After falling short in title shot at UFC 311, what’s next for Renato Moicano?

MMA: UFC 311 Makhachev vs Moicano
Credit: Gary A. Vasquez-Imagn Images

This past Saturday in the main event of UFC 311, we saw a lightweight title fight that came together in a little less than 24 hours. Lightweight champion and current P4P king Islam Makhachev (27-1) took on Renato Moicano (20-6-1). Originally, Moicano was supposed to face Beneil Dariush while Makhachev was supposed to face Arman Tsarukyan on Saturday night.

For the 10th ranked Moicano, this was a dream opportunity. A few years ago, nobody would have envisioned him challenging for the lightweight title. However, a four-fight win streak and an infectious personality along with incredibly fortunate circumstances gave him the opportunity of a lifetime. He had his chance to shock the world.

When the fight started on Saturday night, Moicano showed no fear and took the center of the octagon. He was firing right away with no hesitation. He knew he needed to land a big shot and he was going for it in the opening minutes. However, he got taken down by the P4P king and it was essentially over there. Moicano forced a scramble but landed right in a d’arce choke where he was forced to tap and Islam Makhachev retained the UFC lightweight title.

What’s next after UFC 311?

Renato Moicano dared to be great and he came up short. He doesn’t lose any momentum after this fight, in fact, I think he gained some. For now, it’s back to the drawing board and there are several compelling options for “Money” Moicano.

One obvious one would be the UFC rebooking him against Beneil Dariush. I felt horrible for Dariush considering he didn’t get to fight at all, but the promotion took care of him financially for his efforts. An easy next step would be rebooking these two for a fight in the coming months.

Moicano took no damage in the fight so I don’t see there being an issue with a quick turnaround. There’s also been a lot of online beef with Moicano and Paddy Pimblett. You know that Pimblett would love to fight at UFC London in March and I bet that “Money” Moicano would just love to go into foreign territory again and beat the hometown guy.

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