Introduction
Saturday, May 25th, American strawweight prospect Miranda Granger will be in action for CFFC, where she will be looking to continue his impressive undefeated streak against in an attempt to strike gold. She will be looking to score yet another win, as Granger looks to become CFFC Champion and potentially earn a UFC contract. Granger represents Charlie’s Combat Club, a little known camp out of the state of Washington. Let’s take a closer look at this prospect as this week’s “Prospect Spotlight.”
Strengths (aggressive)
Ground Game: Through and through, Granger is a grappler and there’s no secret about it. Four of her five pro wins come by submission, and she tends to finish those submissions quickly. Before she gets opponents down, though, she tends to set up her ground with the clinch. She likes fighting at close quarters despite her tall 5’7″ frame for the weight class. There she likes to land knees to the body and head while searching for a way to put her opponent on her back. She uses her long limbs to gain leverage on her opponents from the clinch and get them to the mat. It isn’t always pretty, but it is effective. On the ground, she is very active and is always looking for submissions from any angle. She has a strong killer instinct once she’s able to get hold of a submission hold, possessing a strong choking power and grip. Not only that, but she is very slippery on the mat and good at advancing positions, even if she’s in a less advantageous position. She’s very active off her back, as she looks to finish or sweep. Watch her fight with Jamie Colleen. Colleen is on top and Granger is constantly looking for something before finally locking in the fight ending armbar.
Proven Against Veterans: Despite only being five fights into her pro career, Granger is far more proven than other female prospects because she’s actually fought proven talent. A lot of women in the regionals tend to build the resume fighting inexperienced talent or cans. Not Granger. The Washingtonian’s most recent three bouts have all come against proven talent. She’s flushed Jamie Thorton, an LFA veteran, with strikes in her only TKO stoppage as a pro. Then, she dispatched of TUF and Invicta veteran Amy Montenegro with a brutal standing guillotine choke. And, as mentioned, most recently, she tapped out Contender Series vet Colleen with an impressive armbar. She takes on a woman in a similar position as her thus far in her career in Heloisa Azevedo in this upcoming bout, so it’ll be a nice prospect-vs.-prospect matchup.
Needs Improvement
Stand Up: Whereas it’s obvious that Granger is a dangerous grappler, her standup needs to continue developing. She’s definitely not incompetent on the feet, but there are many things she needs to touch up moving forward to the upper levels of the sport. First off, she really lacks the knockout power on the feet (though her ground-and-pound is more effective). She doesn’t throw a lot of multi-strike combinations from a distance, and when she does, they’re pretty basic and scout-able. She also could work on her footwork, as she can get flat footed. In unison, she can keep her head in a straight line, which seasoned strikers could have a field day with hitting a stationary target. She does throw some kicks, but she tends to mostly throw hands to close the distance and set up that close quarter fighting she enjoys. As mentioned, her striking in the clinch is definitely her at her best, so fighting at a distance should be priority to work on.
Outlook
Top-15 Strawweight: I was actually shocked when Miranda Granger was not signed following her latest win over Jamie Colleen, a two-time veteran of the Dana White Contender Series and former King of the Cage Champion. That said, with this win and her continued success as CFFC Champion, there’s no doubt she will earn a contract with the company with a win over Azevedo here. Looking to her future, she’s just 27 and still somewhat young in her journey. With her skill set and a continued improvement in her game, I can definitely see her being a top-15 fighter in her division, maybe even top-10. She’s definitely a prospect to keep your eye on.
MMA Intel 