-Shane Mercer
Renato Moicano is embracing the anyone, anytime, anywhere philosophy. Fresh off a victory at UFC 271, he stepped up at the last minute to fight fellow Brazilian, Rafael dos Anjos in a catchweight fight as the co-main event at UFC 272 on Saturday.
Ahead of his last fight, Moicano called his shot and told MILLIONS how the fight would end saying, “round 2 submission choke!” And that’s exactly what happened against Alexander Hernandez back on February 12th.
Moicano got the submission victory over Hernandez in the second round with a rear naked choke. After the fight he said, “let me tell you, rear naked choke is the most base position in all combat sports, I did 88 times, everybody can do.”
Moicano enters the fight against dos Anjos with a record of 16-4-1, winning three of his last four fights. But he isn’t ranked yet, while dos Anjos is ranked 6th in the lightweight division and has a record of 30-13. A win for Moicano would make it three in a row, and would likely catapult him into the UFC rankings.
There’s another big motivator for Moicano, who told Daniel Cormer after his last fight that he wants “a big cheque performance…I have a son to raise, taxes to pay, a life to live. Big cheques, big money, let’s go! Moicano wants money!”
A sentiment he emphasized earlier this week as he was pushing to get the fight against dos Anjos.
Those big pay cheques could be coming with another impressive performance this weekend. You can support Moicano by buying his merchandise, and you can also follow his fight journey by regularly checking out the MILLIONS blog.