After only two years of practice and at the same time working part-time as a video store clerk, Miranda turned pro in 2001. He made his K-1 debut in 2003, quitting his job to become a full-time fighter. Miranda's first K-1 fight was on February 23, 2003 at K-1 Brazil GP. He lost the fight against Carlos de Lima by unanimous decision. On October 22, 2005, he entered the K-1 Heavyweight Factory tournament in Sao Paulo and achieved the first success of his young career by winning the Grand Prix with three consecutive knockouts over Nelson Vargas, Lucio Silva and Asmir Burgic. After two years of fighting in smaller shows in Brazil, Miranda was selected to participate in one of the regional K-1 qualifying tournaments, on November 2, 2007 in Istanbul, Turkey. In the quarterfinals he was matched up against local fan favorite Erhan Deniz. He won the hard fought battle by majority decision, as well as his other next two fights in the evening and was declared the K-1 Turkey champion. The win qualified him for K-1 European Elimination GP held on February 9, 2008 in Budapest, Hungary. He defeated Tsotne Rogava by unanimous decision in the first round of the 2013 Tantneft Cup on February 23, 2013. In the quarterfinals of the Tafneft Cup, he defeated Netherlands' Jantje Siersema by unanimous decision. In the semifinals of the Tafneft Cup, Vitor Miranda faced the local Russia's fighter Mikhail Tyuterev. Miranda lost the fight via a controversial unanimous decision.
Concurrent to his kickboxing career, Miranda made his professional MMA debut in November 2003. He fought in MMA sporadically over the next ten years, obtaining a record of 9 wins against 3 losses with all but one of his wins coming by way of a finish.
The Ultimate Fighter: Brazil
In February 2014, it was revealed that Miranda was chosen as a fighter to compete on. To get into the TUF house, Miranda defeated Bruno Silva via head-kick knockout. He was the second Heavyweight chosen to be on Team Sonnen. In his second fight on the show, he faced Antônio Branjão and won via TKO in the first round. In the semifinals, he faced Richardson Moreira and again won by TKO, this time in the second round.
Ultimate Fighting Championship
Having secured his place in the final, Miranda faced fellow finalist Antônio Carlos Júnior at the finale on May 31, 2014. He lost the fight via unanimous decision. Miranda faced promotional newcomer Jake Collier in a middleweight bout on December 20, 2014 at UFC Fight Night 58. He won the fight via knockout in the last second of the first round. The win also earned Miranda his first Performance of the Night bonus award. Miranda was expected to face Nick Catone on April 18, 2015 at UFC on Fox 15. However, Catone abruptly announced his retirement on March 25, citing a litany of injuries and a history of chronic back pain. In turn, Miranda was also pulled from the card citing a rib injury. Miranda faced Clint Hester on August 1, 2015 at UFC 190. He won the fight via TKO in the second round. Miranda faced Marcelo Guimarães on March 5, 2016 at UFC 196. He won the fight via TKO in the second round. Miranda faced Chris Camozzi on May 29, 2016 at UFC Fight Night 88. He lost the fight by unanimous decision. Miranda faced Marvin Vettori on June 25, 2017 at UFC Fight Night 112. He lost the fight by unanimous decision. Miranda faced promotional newcomer Julian Marquez on December 16, 2017 at UFC on Fox 26. However on December 4, it was announced that Miranda was pulled from the fight due to injury. He lost the fight via unanimous decision. Miranda faced newcomer Abu Azaitar on July 22, 2018 on UFC Fight Night 134. He lost the fight by unanimous decision and was subsequently released from the promotion.
