UFC Renato Moicano.
Renato Moicano advanced his MMA career with a lightweight win over Drew Dober.
Moicano, according to official UFC data, landed 142 strikes from 177 throws, and drilled three of six takedowns during a UFC Fight Night bout Heavy attended Saturday, February 3 at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas.
This was a significantly higher output than Dober, who landed 36 from 73 strikes and just one takedown from two attempts.
The three Octagonside judges all scored the bout 29-28 in favor of Moicano, who advanced his pro record to 18 wins (10 submissions and eight decisions) against five losses.
It was a remarkable win for Moicano, who now has victories over Brad Riddell and Dober after coming unstuck against Rafael dos Anjos in 2022.
However, despite the result, it was Moicano’s post-fight victory speech that will no doubt generate headlines.
In a somewhat random rant, Moicano — with one eye swollen shut, with cuts and bruises — referenced pregnancy, wanting to “kill the bad guys,” and how people in the U.S. need to go to church and respect the law.
If they don’t do that, Moicano said, America will “become a third world country.”
Here’s the speech in full:
“My father is 62 years old and had a baby yesterday, and I’m telling him tomorrow when I get home, I’m getting my wife pregnant again. After I’m done with fighting, I will serve as a police officer, I want to be SWAT team, I want to [expletive] kill the bad guys, make no mistake, there is right and there is [expletive] wrong and people are forgetting about that. People are going crazy, that’s why I want more kids. I want people to go to the church, and I want people to respect the [expletive] law, otherwise this great country will become a third world country.”
Afterwards, UFC commentator and former two-weight UFC champion Dan Cormier quipped: “Good thing we’re on ESPN Plus!”
Watch his speech right here:
UFC’s Women Took Center Stage
It wasn’t the only notable moment from the show as the UFC’s women took center stage with one of the best bouts of the year so far, and a brutal armbar in a separate fight.
Resurgent British fighter Molly McCann scored one of the best finishes of the night when she submitted Diana Belbita with an armbar that was so nasty it made her opponent scream out in pain.
UFC brass liked the technique so much that the company rewarded McCann with a $50,000 cash bonus after the event.
Later that night, Natalia Silva and Viviane Araujo produced an all-out war with leg kicks, kicks to the jaw, and a back-and-forth scrap for the ages as neither flyweight backed down.
“Any fight UFC will give me, I will win,” Silva told Heavy and other reporters in the press room, after her win.
The Combat Sports Calendar Heats Up
Saturday’s UFC show was it’s third event of the year, and the market-leading MMA firm has plenty in the pipeline for the rest of Q1 and Q2.
Here is a list of upcoming shows:
- February 10 — UFC Fight Night: Hermansson vs. Pyfer — Las Vegas
- February 17 — UFC 298: Volkanovski vs. Topuria — Anaheim
- February 24 — UFC Fight Night: Moreno vs. Royval 2 — Mexico City
- March 2 — UFC Fight Night 238: TBA — TBA
- March 9 — UFC 299: O’Malley vs. Vera 2 — Miami
- March 16 — UFC Fight Night: Tuivasa vs. Tybura — Las Vegas
- March 23 — UFC Fight Night: Ribas vs. Namajunas — Las Vegas
- March 30 — UFC Fight Night 241: TBA — Atlantic City
- April 6 — UFC Fight Night: Vettori vs. Allen — Las Vegas
- April 13 — UFC 300: TBA — Las Vegas
- April 27 — UFC Fight Night 243: TBA — Las Vegas
- May 4 — UFC 301: TBA — Rio de Janeiro
- June 22 — UFC Fight Night 244: TBA — Riyadh