COACHELLA, Calif. — Miranda Granger spent the morning following her latest mixed martial arts fight going on a long workout run.
That’s what Granger has to do as her fights keep getting shorter and shorter. When she doesn’t break a sweat during the bout, she has to make up for it the next day.
The Snohomish native needed a mere 41 seconds to claim her latest professional championship, racing through Heloisa Azevedo for the Cage Fury Fighting Championships’ inaugural women’s strawweight (115 pounds) title at CFFC 75 Saturday night at the Spotlight 29 Casino.
Granger not only won the fight in impressive fashion, she also caught the eyes of MMA’s biggest players. Following the fight, it was announced that Granger was offered a spot on Dana White’s Tuesday Night Contender Series.
Noooow we're talkin'!
Keep your eyes peeled, folks!#CFFC75 pic.twitter.com/ktatUEPyDn
— UFC FIGHT PASS (@UFCFightPass) May 26, 2019
“I’m thankful for the offer,” Granger said when reached by phone Sunday in Coachella. “At this time I’m celebrating my win, and my team and I are considering all the possibilities.”
Granger, a 27-year-old who fights out of Charlie’s Combat Club in Everett and came into the fight ranked 33rd in the world among women strawweights by Tapology.com, is taking significantly more time to determine her future than it took to win her CFFC world championship. Facing the 93rd-ranked Azevedo in the main event scheduled for four five-minute rounds, Granger caught the Brazilian in a standing guillotine choke hold to end the bout in less than a minute.
“I knew she was going to come out aggressive based on what I’d seen from her, and that’s exactly what she did,” Granger said. “She came in and got in close — I knew she’d try to close the distance because I’m quite a bit taller. As soon as she got close we got into a clinch, we had a little exchange in the clinch, I got in on a takedown, and it was just good body position on my part. I got a lock on her head, and as soon as we came up I knew I’d be able to finish the choke just because of the leverage I had on her.”
Granger ran her professional record to 6-0, all but one of those fights ending in the first round by submission. The CFFC championship belt joins her Dominate FC women’s strawweight title.
“It feels pretty great,” Granger said about holding two titles. “This one obviously I’m a little more grateful for since it’s a world title, and it’s the first ever strawweight title in CFFC history for a female. I’m very excited to be the person holding that title.”
Azevedo dropped to 4-2.
One other fighter from Charlie’s Combat Club, Chris Vasil of Lake Stevens, was also on Saturday’s card. Facing the heavily favored Troy Guerrero in a featherweight (145 pounds) bout, Vasil won by first-round TKO to improve his record to 3-1. Guerrero dropped to 6-3.
Talk to us
> Give us your news tips.
> Send us a letter to the editor.
> More Herald contact information.
