UFC Fight Night: Manoel Sousa vs Richie Miranda Preview & Prediction
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Two finishers meet at lightweight, as Contender Series graduate Manoel Sousa looks to go 2-0 in the octagon against the reigning LFA champion, Richie Miranda.
Manoel Sousa vs Richie Miranda facts
What time are Manoel Sousa and Richie Miranda expected to walk out?
Where is UFC Fight Night: Gamrot vs Salkilld? Meta Apex, Enterprise, USA
Where can I get tickets for UFC Fight Night: Gamrot vs Salkilld? Click here for the latest ticket information for UFC Fight Night 284
What TV channel is UFC Fight Night: Gamrot vs Salkilld on? UK – TNT Sports / USA – Paramount
Where can I stream UFC Fight Night: Gamrot vs Salkilld? UK – TNT Sports can stream the event online via the TNT Sports website and HBO Max / USA – Paramount+ & UFC Fight Pass
UFC Fight Night: Gamrot vs Salkilld main card
Mateusz Gamrot vs Quillan Salkilld (Lightweight)
Carlos Diego Ferreira vs Billy Quarantillo (Lightweight)
Darren Elkins vs Yadier del Valle (Featherweight)
Amanda Lemos vs Alexia Thainara (Women's Strawweight)
Ty Miller vs Billy Ray Goff (Welterweight)
UFC Fight Night: Gamrot vs Salkilld prelims
Steven Asplund vs Guilherme Pat (Heavyweight)
Diyar Nurgozhay vs Bruno Lopes (Light Heavyweight)
Louie Sutherland vs Jose Luiz (Heavyweight)
Manoel Sousa vs Richie Miranda (Lightweight)
Miles Johns vs Jessie Rosas (Featherweight)
Juliana Miller vs Ravena Oliveira (Women's Flyweight)
Carol Foro vs Giovanna Canuto (Women's Strawweight)
Manoel Sousa: “Manumito” looks to follow up a highlight-reel debut
Manoel Sousa (14-1) announced himself in violent fashion in March, flattening Bolaji Oki with a straight right in the final minute of the final round for a Performance of the Night bonus after a back-and-fourth war. The Brazilian is a feint-heavy pressure fighter who switches stances constantly, using heavy jab feints to set up his signature step-through straight. He’s strong in the clinch and effective with knees, has decent stamina and is still throwing with power in the third round, and he shows good escape instincts off his back.
Richie Miranda: “El Machete” gets the call on ten days’ notice
Richie Miranda (13-1) is the LFA lightweight champion, riding a seven-fight win streak that hasn’t been interrupted since 2023. He took the belt from Richie Lewis last year and has defended it twice since, beating Barzilay and then choking out Varricchio in May. The Californian is a wrestler by trade, and he’s shown good cardio and durability across five-round title fights. On the feet he mostly operates with his boxing, pawing his lead hand to feint and to catch jabs, fighting from both stances.
Manoel Sousa vs Richie Miranda prediction
This will be a back and fourth striking battle mostly, with both fighters shooting takedowns opportunistically. On the floor Sousa will attempt the kimura but they’ll both probably just scramble up to the feet from that position. Miranda can be controlled on the ground, we saw Richie Lewis get him into side control and Miranda struggled there, but Sousa won’t keep the fight too long on the ground.
Miranda’s habits are the concern. He isn’t afraid to eat punches to give his own, and that’s a terrible habit to have against Sousa in this matchup, since Sousa is the much more powerful striker. He also likes to work the front chokes when he’s being shot on, and a lot of the time that just ends him on bottom.
Sousa has plenty of his own problems. The Colgan loss exposed his low lead hand after jabbing, leaving him open to right-hand counters, his defence is mostly just backing straight up rather than head movement or using angles, and he attacks in straight lines, making him easy to read and hit with lateral movement. He overswings and gets taken down easily when he gets reckless, which happens more as he starts losing.
The thing with the Sousa pick is that he is always live for a knockout. He was down against Oki and still found the third round KO, same as the Contender Series fight. Miranda is tough, but I think the right hand will start to leave a lot of damage.
Prediction: Manoel Sousa to win by KO/TKO
