Renato Moicano stepped on on super late notice to face Rafael dos Anjos.
Renato Moicano suffered a lopsided beating at the hands of former UFC lightweight champion Rafael dos Anjos this past weekend. Moicano appeared in the five-round co-main event on just a few days notice, after dos Anjos’ original opponent Rafael Fiziev bowed out due to COVID-19.
Despite taking a heavy loss, one many people think should have been stopped before the final round, Moicano told MMA Junkie that he didn’t regret seizing the short notice opportunity.
“My manager sent a message to me saying, ‘What do you think about dos Anjos’ style?’ And I said, ‘He’s good, but I can beat him. If I have a good training camp, I can be ready,’” Moicano said, when he recalled how the fight with RDA got made. “Then he said that he (dos Anjos) was looking for an opponent in five days. I thought, ‘Man, I’m heavy. I’m 180 (pounds).’ He said let’s go offer it to the UFC and I said, ‘Offer it and let’s see what they say. Just tell them I’m heavy.’
“We told them I was 180 and they said, ‘OK, we’re going to figure this out because there’s a lot of people involved. A lot of people answered the call to try to fight him.’ So I was waiting, and I didn’t think of it too much because when opportunity comes, you have to take chances.”
Moicano revealed that he “wasn’t 100 percent” when he took the fight. However, he added, “I hate excuses, I really hate excuses.”
“If I take the fight, I always believe in me, and I always believe I can beat anybody in the UFC. I know that. So I don’t really care too much about the loss and if I have or I don’t have a training camp. Even if I don’t have a training camp, I can fight anybody and beat anybody in the world.”
The bout at UFC 272 was Moicano’s first to go five-rounds. The Brazilian said he’s eager to do that again, but would prefer that to come after a full training camp.
“I want to fight five rounds again, but in my best shape, sharp, ready to perform and ready to put the fans applauding and going crazy. I want to be known by the fans, and I want to make money. So what is better than a main event? I feel like this could be my bonus if UFC says. ‘Main event, you vs. Bobby Green in a UFC Fight Night. Let’s go.’”
Moicano joined the UFC in 2014, as a featherweight, and impressed with wins over Zubaira Tukhugov and Jeremy Stephens. His upward trajectory was stifled by a submission loss to Brian Ortega in 2017. Moicano bounced back with bonus-snatching wins over Calvin Kattar and Cub Swanson.
Those victories set him up for a fight with former UFC featherweight champion Jose Aldo. In their 2019 fight Aldo turned back the clocks and finished his younger compatriot with a second round TKO. Moicano then lost to Chan Sung Jung, also by TKO.
After those disappointments, Moicano moved up to lightweight. He’s currently 3-1 at 155 lbs with wins over Alexander Hernandez and Jai Herbert. His loss to Dos Anjos was a catchweight bout at 160 lbs.