I’ve watched Renato Moicano for a while now and I’ve been intrigued by his progression and how he has steadily made his way into the top cream of UFC lightweight fighters. His most recent fight was at UFC Fight Night 243 in Paris and the result had great significance for him. Below, I take a look at his actual record and stats, what happened in Paris, and what I expect for his 35-year old Brazilian MMA fighter.

Renato Moicano – Actual Record/Stats

Some of you may not know, but Moicano has been around the block and he’s been a pro fighter since 2010 – certainly been named as favorite with the UFC betting sites a couple times or more. His current record is as follows:

[table id=210 /]

I think that’s a relatively decorated career with a total of 26 fights, 20 wins, 6 losses, and 1 draw spanning 14 years of competition. During this time, he’s fought notable UFC combatants like Zubaira Tukhugov, Jeremy Stephens, Jose Aldo, Alexander Hernandez, and most recently, Benoit Saint Denis.

What went down at UFC Paris

UFC Paris or UFC Fight Night 243 was an epic event at the Accord Arena in Paris where I’m hoping to go in 2025 again to see the NBA Paris game! Moicano would be fighting against Benoit Saint-Denis.

The interest in this fight was relatively high – both were looking to break into the top 10 lightweight rankings, and the partisan Parisian crowd would ultimately be cheering for their home-grown fighter.

I watched Moicano stick it to the crowd though as he took an early advantage after taking Saint-Denis down in the first round. This appeared to spur him on and from there he generally controlled the fight and landed some scathing blows that mauled BSD pretty good, although the second round was more closely contested, and I didn’t realize that Renato had actually separated his shoulder!

Eventually, Saint-Denis was looking worse for wear in round 2, the doctor stepped in, gave the Frenchman a once-over and called it which gave Money Moicano the win by TKO.

A move further into the top-10 UFC rankings?

Before this fight, Moicano was ranked 11th and his victory in Paris has seen him move up into 10th place, surpassing Rafael Fiziev and pushing Deniot Saint-Denis to 12th.

It also sees Moicano build his current win streak to 4 and he will be hoping to capitalize on this further. His previous wins came against Jalin Turner at UFC 300, Drew Dober at UFC Fight Night 235, Brad Riddell at UFC 281, and Rafael dos Anjos at UFC 272.

Due to his current top 10 ranking, I expect Moicano to push for a fight against someone between the 5th to 9th spots which includes:

  • 9th – Mateusz Gamrot.
  • 8th – Beneil Dariush.
  • 7th – Michael Chandler.
  • 6th – Dan Hooker.
  • 5th – Max Holloway.

Many people are expecting he will go for his immediate ranking superiors and try to organize a fight against either Gamrot or Dariush. This would make sense as both fighters, although ranked higher, are both coming off of recent losses so their confidence and conditioning will be lower and Moicano could take advantage of this.

I don’t expect he will push for a fight against anyone ranked higher than this – he is 35 and with the average UFC fighter age being around 30, he is potentially coming towards the end of his career. A successful fight against Dariush or Gamrot would solidify his position in the top 10 and should move him closer towards the top fight.

After that, I would expect him to reassess his situation depending on how the next fight went and look to make future inroads. A top 5 push is not out of the realms of possibility, but at that stage, you are getting to some really stiff competition.

The only way is up for Money Moicano

Whatever is next for Rento Moicano, I expect more success and certainly a deeper push into the rankings of the UFC lightweight division. At the moment however, he can revel in glory after his crushing defeat of Benoit Saint-Denis at UFC Paris and rest with ease knowing that he has broken into the top 10.

 

By Published On: November 5th, 2024Categories: Latest UFC News: Results, Rumors & More at Home Of Fight