Photo by Mike Roach/Zuffa LLC via Getty Images
After making a successful jump up to the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) Lightweight division earlier this year with a first-round submission win over Damir Hadzovic (see it here), Renato Moicano got some renewed confidence after back-to-back knockout losses at Featherweight.
So-much-so that the Brazilian bomber called out former Lightweight champion Anthony Pettis as his next opponent.
“So I think, off the top of my head, a guy whose not ranked, but is a really good guy, I thought about Anthony Pettis,” Renato told Line Movement (via Bloody Elbow). “I think it’s a good fight if he comes back to lightweight. I don’t know if he’s going to come back to lightweight, but I think he should do it. If he wants to, I’m ready to face him.”
Unfortunately for Moicano, UFC matchmakers had other plans, as they ignored his call for a fight against “Showtime” and booked him to face off against Magomed Mustafaev at an upcoming Fight Night event on Oct. 17, 2020 according to Globo.
Mustafaev was last seen coming up short against Brad Riddell at UFC Fight Night 168 this past February giving him his second loss in three fights. Prior to his skid, “Sniper” had reeled off 13 straight victories. As for Moicano, after starting off his UFC career with a 5-1 mark including big wins over Cub Swanson and Calvin Kattar, he suffered two straight knockout losses at the hands of Chan Sung Jung and Jose Aldo.
And though he bounced back nicely with a 44-second submission win over Hadzovic, his stock did take a fall.
The Fight Night event is set to be headlined by a highly-anticipated 145-pound showdown between the aforementioned “Korean Zombie” and Brian Ortega. Also on the card, Jessica Andrade is expected to face Jessica Eye.