Renato Moicano earned himself a big win on Saturday night, taking out teammate Chris Duncan in the second round via rear naked choke (highlights here). That snapped a two fight losing streak for Moicano, and reminded people just how entertaining “Money” is on fight week.
For years, Moicano toiled in the UFC under relative obscurity. That is, until he embraced a heel persona and started his “Moicano wants money” shtick. He learned from some of the best, including Conor McGregor and Chael Sonnen — two
fighters that Moicano admits he used to hate.
“Two guys that everybody in Brazil hates: Conor McGregor and Chael Sonnen,” Moicano said on the Paramount+ post-fight show. “When I was 15 or 16, I looked up to Anderson Silva and Jose Aldo. Chael was talking so much s–t about Anderson Silva that I thought of buying a flight ticket to go to a UFC event just to sucker-punch Chael Sonnen.”
“Now I see him and I’m like, this guy is a fucking genius because, you know, how smart you have to be for a 16-year-old to want to punch you just because of your mic skills.”
People forget how much heat Chael Sonnen had in Brazil during the days of his Anderson Silva feud. There were legitimate concerns for his safety when he visited Rio for a press conference leading up to his second “Spider” fight. A drug dealer put a hefty price on his head. A press member shocked Sonnen with a ‘shock pen’ during a scrum.
You better believe there were several thousand young Renatos out there ready to punch Sonnen in the face. Now it all just seems funny, but it was deadly serious back then. And now “Money” is using the same tactics to raise his profile in America. How’s that for turnaround?
