Granger on fight: ‘I just wanted it to go a little longer’

Miranda Granger was ecstatic about her latest mixed martial arts victory.

But even she felt it was over a little too quickly.

Granger, a Snohomish native and a rising star in the MMA world, needed just 2 minutes, 11 seconds to defeat veteran Jamie Colleen last Friday night at the Borgata Hotel Casino & Spa in Atlantic City, N.J.

It was over so quickly that Granger barely worked up a sweat.

“It felt good,” Granger, reached in Texas where she was getting some post-fight rest and relaxation with her husband’s family, said of the victory. “I just wanted it to go a little longer, if I’m being honest. I didn’t feel that way in the cage. When you’re in the cage, you want to finish it as fast as possible. But looking back I wish I’d gotten to fight a little more.”

Granger, a 26-year-old who fights out of Charlie’s Combat Club in Everett, made her first traveling business trip a fast one. Fighting outside Washington for the first time, Granger made quick work of Colleen, a former King of the Cage women’s strawweight champion, winning by armbar submission. The strawweight (115-pound) bout was scheduled for three 5-minute rounds.

“At the beginning (Colleen) was a little standoffish, so I felt I was going to have to be the aggressor,” Granger said. “I knew she had a counterattacking style, so I didn’t want to be too aggressive, expose my chin and get clipped. I threw a punch combo and both landed really clean. I felt her retreat a little bit, and I kind of saw an opportunity to move forward. I hit her with another combo, then went into the clinch, but I screwed up my leg position and ended up getting taken down. But I got a loose guillotine on her and I knew I could transition that into an armbar.

“I knew if I could trap her arm while holding her in the loose guillotine, and if I could get the arm across my body, that I could finish it. It was a matter of getting my hips out and clamping down. As soon as I got a good grip on her arm, I knew I wasn’t going to let go. I was getting ready to break it, if I’m being honest.”

Afterward, Granger could be seen tending to a bloody nose. Turns out it didn’t even happen during the fight.

“It’s a funny thing because before I walk into the cage, Charlie (Pearson, Granger’s trainer) always slaps me pretty good on the face — we like to call it getting the first punch out of the way,” Granger said. “Well, he caught me pretty good and gave me a bloody nose, so I walk into the cage before the start with a bloody nose. It was the worst hit I took.”

Granger’s win on the road is enhancing her reputation. This week she’s ranked by Tapology.com as No. 4 among female fighters pound for pound in the United States, up from No. 8 prior to the fight, and she moved up from No. 51 to No. 46 among female strawweights worldwide. Post-bout speculation centered on Granger’s chances at moving into more prestigious promotions, including UFC.

Checking in with #CFFC71:

Top strawweight prospect Miranda Granger (5-0) just ran through an extremely tough test in #ContenderSeries veteran Jamie Colleen. First round armbar.

My prediction: we'll see her in the UFC in 2019.

— Nolan King (@mma_kings) December 15, 2018

“I haven’t heard anything about that,” Granger said. “I tell Charlie not to tell me anything. He lets me relax and enjoy my time away, then he’ll let me know the next step.

“But I’m ready for whatever. If that’s what happened I’d be ecstatic, but I’d fight in someone’s back yard if that’s what came up.”