Vitor Miranda's withdrawal from UFC on FOX 26 was one of the few recent changes in the Winnipeg card on Dec. 16, and the Brazilian opened up about the issues that forced him to pull out of a fight with Julian Marquez.
Miranda competed for the last time in June, suffering his second defeat in a row in the UFC against Marvin Vettori, and realized that his life outside of the Octagon did not allow him to completely focus on his preparation.
“There are a lot of things happening in my life right now,” Miranda told MMA Fighting. “I just got married, I’m opening my gym in Joinville, and my wife’s pregnancy demands more attention because she has symphysis pubis dysfunction, and that demands more time.
“Some reports came out wrong, saying that [pregnancy] was concerning. It’s not a concern, but that demands more time, and that affected my training, that reflected in the gym. My coaches started to notice, they asked me what's happening in my life because I wasn’t 100 percent in there (mentally), and we know you can’t fight in the UFC if you’re not 100 percent focused.”
Miranda, who holds a 3-2 UFC record with three knockout wins since coming up short in the TUF Brazil 3 heavyweight final in 2014, recently informed the UFC of his decision to pull out of the fight. His wife Paula is expected to give birth in June.
“My manager and my coaches thought it was the best thing to do,” Miranda said. “We explained the situation to the UFC and they understood. We will wait for things to calm down and start to focus 100 percent in fighting again next year."
With Miranda out of the preliminary portion of UFC on FOX 26, Marquez will now fight Darren Stewart.
