Preview: UFC Fight Night 243 ‘Moicano vs. St. Denis’

Featherweights

Morgan Charriere (19-10-1, 1-1 UFC) vs. Gabriel Miranda (17-6, 1-1 UFC)

ODDS: Charriere (-600), Miranda (+440)

Charriere should be fine in the long run, but his rise to prominence has been delayed a bit and he looks to bounce back in his latest assignment. A professional since he was a teenager, “The Last Pirate” already had nearly a decade of experience under his belt when the UFC picked him up in 2023. As a result, he seemed set to immediately hit the ground running as one of the promotion’s French stars. Beyond working out the issues in his game, Charriere had also spent his time on the regional scene cultivating a large fanbase that added an extra layer of electricity to his UFC debut. That outing, which resulted in a one-sided beating of Manolo Zecchini during the UFC’s trip to Paris in 2023, went about as well as possible. Charriere figured to carry that momentum forward when he faced Jose Mariscal in April. However, Charriere wound up losing a split decision in a fight that was a mixed bag. Charriere probably deserved the win and Mariscal has proven himself to be a fighter that everyone has been underrating, but the Frenchman was overly patient in picking his spots—an issue that has popped up throughout his career. Prior to the Mariscal fight, it did seem like Charriere had finally started to learn to just pull the trigger, so the hope is that he can permanently turn that corner going forward. At any rate, that probably won’t matter in what feels like a clear setup for a bounce-back win against Brazil’s Miranda.

Miranda was quite obscure for a UFC signing when he got the call from the promotion in 2022, and “Fly” has mostly toiled in anonymity since, in part thanks to fighting only once per year. However, Miranda’s fights have consistently been exciting, even if that hasn’t always been to his benefit. He looks to swarm his opponent with takedown attempts and hunt for submissions, which got him torn apart against Benoit St. Denis but worked within a minute against Shane Young. This feels much like the former, and once Miranda’s first few takedown attempts fail to work, he will be in trouble. The pick is Charriere via first-round knockout.

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Carneiro vs. St. Denis
Imavov vs. Allen
Brito vs. Gomis
Battle vs. Jousset
Charriere vs. Miranda
Ziam vs. Frevola
The Prelims