Renato Moicano and Drew Dober squared off in a Lightweight contest earlier tonight (Sat., Feb. 3, 2024) at UFC Vegas 85 inside UFC Apex in Las Vegas, Nevada.
This one started with a bang! Moicano pressed early, and Dober was happy to oblige, firing back at his foe with body-head combinations. He found his mark early, but Moicano hung in the pocket and fired back. Though a Dober right hook rattled the Brazilian, he was able to duck down and complete his second double leg attempt into top position. Moicano settled into half guard and slowly began working to improve his position. It wasn’t overly pretty, but Moicano did really good technical work in applying heavy pressure and landing chipping shots.
By the end of the round, Dober looked a bit roughed up.
Dober started the second with wild swings. Moicano backed off then grabbed a clinch, throwing Dober to the floor with relative ease. This time, Dober was able to pop up quickly, but he failed to break the clinch, and Moicano forced him to the mat yet again. It wasn’t looking good for the UFC Lightweight KO king!
Back in half guard, Moicano continued looking to pass into mount. Instead, he briefly jumped the back during a scramble, but Dober was able to escape to his feet and score a lateral drop of his own! An elbow from top position opened Moicano up, and Dober finished the round with a few big connections to really even up the cards after a dreadful start to the round.
The two began the third by slugging it out! Moicano was looking for the takedown, but his early attempts were shucked off by Dober, who was firing head kicks and sneaking hooks through the guard. Alas, a Dober trip attempt backfired horribly, and he found himself stuck on bottom once more. Moicano’s tough control was smothering, and he was finally able to advance to mount with about 40 seconds remaining … but Dober escaped right back to half guard. He ended the fight stuck in that position, unable to escape Moicano’s pressure.
After 15 minutes, Moicano was unanimously named the victor.
It wasn’t his prettiest win and disrupts his finishing streak, but Moicano won probably 13 out of the 15 minutes of this fight. Dober had no real answer for his wrestling, and though he managed to defend better than expected from bottom, Moicano was in the driver’s seat for most of the fight.
A win’s a win.
Result: Moicano defeats Dober via unanimous decision — WATCH POST-FIGHT SPEECH!
For complete UFC Vegas 85: “Dolidze vs. Imavov” results and play-by-play, click HERE.