Returning to his origins, Vitor Miranda makes his debut at WGP Kickboxing

V. Miranda returns to kickboxing after five years away. Photo: Reproduction/Instagram @vithai

Inspired by his trajectory in muay thai and K1, Vitor miranda will make his WGP Kickboxing debut. The former UFC fighter will face Elias Rodriguez in the main fight of WGP 52, on December 16, in Joinville (SC) – his hometown. The athletes face each other in the heavyweight category (94kg).

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Vitor agreed to make his debut at the event with just five weeks notice and had two changes of opponent. However, 'Lex Luthor' bets on his experience to beat the young Paraguayan.

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“About Elias Rodriguez, I know little about him. My opponent was changed for the third time and I didn't find much material about him. What I know is what people confirm to me during interviews. He's a new guy, but he's been fighting for a while and has had a lot of fights in kickboxing. So it will be that classic, youth versus experience. I believe that my experience will prevail”, explained Vitor.

Vitor miranda He became known to the public after participating in The Ultimate Fighter Brasil and winning a contract with UFC. He remained with the organization for four years and fought seven times. However, the Santa Catarina native was fired from the franchise after defeats to Chris Camozzi, Marvin vettori e Abu Azaitar. A few months later 'Lex Luthor' signed a contract with WGP Kickboxing.

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In an exclusive interview, Vitor miranda talked about his return to kickboxing, his departure from the UFC and plans for the future.

SL: How was your transition from K1 to MMA?

Vitor miranda: At the time I fought in K1. My dream has always been to participate and make my career in K1. So much so that many friends and acquaintances were switching to MMA and I said: 'I'm not going to MMA, the guys are giving up too easily'. It ended up being at my peak in K1 when I won K1 Turkey in 2007. A couple of months later it closed its doors. Then I was kind of left without an event, there weren't many events in Brazil and I was already fighting at a very good international level. I didn't want to take a step back.

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At that time I trained with Pedro Rizzo and helped with sparing and Muay Thai for his fights. I also met Dedé Pederneiras, the guys from Nova União where we trained. And Dedé said: 'Man, go to MMA and you'll do well. MMA is growing'. At the age of 28 I switched to MMA and from then on I started to focus and pursue the biggest in the world, the UFC.

SL: How did your entry into TUF and consecutively into the UFC happen?

IN M: I started MMA in 2008, I had a lot of fights. I went to the United States and returned to Rio de Janeiro. When I joined Team Nogueira in 2012, I really started to evolve as an MMA fighter. Where the Nogueira brothers gave me all the support just so I could train and focus on my fight career. I was winning fight after fight. In 2011, I tried to get into TUF in the first edition and I didn't make it. In 2012, I participated as Minotauro's assistant coach and at the end of 2013 my category opened and I managed to enter as an athlete. And from there I started to make my career in the UFC.

SL: How was your time in the UFC and what changed in your life?

IN M: I joined the UFC at 35 years old. So it was a crowning achievement in my trajectory/career and it was the moment when I thought: 'Wow, it was worth all the effort, investment and sacrifice I made. I arrived at the UFC and it was really good for me. It was the moment where people started to recognize me, know my story and my career. I'm very grateful for my time in the UFC.

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SL: Usually Ultimate fighters after two or three defeats. Do you have any regrets about not switching categories or doing something different before the last setback in the organization?

IN M: Repentance is not the word. I assume it was a very serious mistake that I didn't adapt to the UFC categories, because when I joined there was another reality. There was no USADA (United States Anti-Doping Agency) controlling the very strong anti-doping part. There wasn't that much control, so I ended up fighting much heavier guys. Guys who did a hormone replacement cycle lost weight more and then regained it easier.

When USADA arrived things started to change, people had to adapt to their natural categories and I didn't do that. I ended up forcing a category that wasn't natural to me. I sacrificed too much to lose weight, consequently I was unable to regain my full shape and ended up suffering from the last three defeats. There's no point in me crying over spilled milk. It was a mistake and I accept that mistake, but I still want to see if I can learn from it and do better in my next five years of career so that from now on I can only have victories, God willing.

SL: What is it like returning to kickboxing after five years?

IN M: I haven't done kickboxing for five years. And more than that, I haven't trained in kickboxing for a long time. When we train for stand-up fighting, it's daily training with combinations, bags, gauntlets. Because of MMA, I can't do all of this because there are other skills, other modalities that you need to train and you end up losing your rhythm.

I'm trying to recover that and it's going to be a challenge for this first fight because I didn't have much time to train. The excitement of returning to fight on my feet and even within my city will outweigh the time I didn't have to train. I think I'm going to do very well, as far as possible and I'm going to get this victory and from then on I won't stop training kickboxing and regain my old rhythm.

SL: What was the strategy applied in your training camp to be ready to fight again in five weeks?

IN M: It was five weeks and I still had to deal with the recovery of my broken hand and underwent surgery. […] It wasn't the ideal preparation, but I believe it will be enough to win this one and from now on I can only improve more and more.

SL: You will fight and have the crowd behind you. How do you react to this?

IN M: For me it's too good. I've already fought twice at this gym where I'm going to fight here in Joinville and people always show up. I believe that after my departure from the UFC I have the strongest name in the city… I think it will be packed and I'm very excited for this presentation.

SL: Your goal in kickboxing is to reach Glory. What strategy did you outline to get there?

IN M: My strategy will be to do as many fights as necessary within the WGP to be able to enter Glory. Suddenly even competing for a WGP title based on my victories. Because I believe that I don't need any other event to put me in Glory. The WGP has a very strong partnership with the event and Paulinho [Zorello, executive director of the WGP] also has very good contact. I believe that if I do well in the WGP I can get into Glory.

WGP 52 takes place at the Centerventos Cau Hansen Complex in Joinville, Santa Catarina, on December 16th from 16:30 pm (Brasília time). The event will be broadcast on Combate, Fox Sports and Band Sports channels.