Brian Ortega left Renato Moicano without an opponent for UFC 316 in March and Esteban Ribovics tried to step in as a replacement against the Brazilian veteran. That didn’t work, and Moicano will instead headline UFC Vegas 115 this weekend versus Chris Duncan.
Moicano went from competing in a big numbered event headlined by Charles Oliveira and Max Holloway to facing Duncan in a Meta APEX main event, and he isn’t bothered about it.
“Ortega would’ve been great, an excellent fight, a rematch,” Moicano
told MMA Fighting. “And that’s what I told the UFC. Fighting Ribovics, a guy with no buzz, no name… I’ve got nothing against him, you know? Some dude even tagged me in his video. I’ll tell you this, I don’t even check my social media. So when people say, ‘Moicano, did you see this? Did you see that?’ I don’t look, I can’t keep up anymore. But a friend saw it after a few days and showed me Ribovics saying, ‘Moicano, if you think I’m easy money, sign the contract.’ I thought to myself, ‘If I think you’re easy money? I don’t even know who you are [laughs].’ But if I said that, I’d be calling him out, you know? And that wasn’t my interest. But that’s exactly what I meant. ‘Did I say you’re easy money? I don’t even know who you are, man. Are you crazy?”’
Ribovics campaigned for the shot in an interview with MMA Fighting in February, saying Moicano “knows I’m his worst investment” and “I’m not easy money.” A popular figure in the MMA space on YouTube, especially in Brazil, Moicano said he would have agreed to facing Ribovics on the UFC Vegas main event had that been offered to him.
“I’ll tell you this, I’ve got nothing against Ribovics,” Moicano said. “I think he’s an excellent fighter. If they had offered me Ribovics in a main event, I would’ve fought him too, you know? Right now I’m not that worried about UFC money. I’m focused on the exposure it can give me because I’m sure I’ll make more money outside the UFC than inside. I’m sure of that today. So I need that. Even if it’s at the Apex, I’ll have the mic there. Beating Chris Duncan, I’ll get the mic. I’ll have the whole fight week. That’s important to build my presence on social media.”
Duncan lives in Scotland and does his camps under the same roof of American Top Team, and Moicano didn’t like the idea of facing him at first. Moicano said that UFC’s Hunter Campbell argued that ATT has so many top-level lightweights that it would be inevitable to keep them apart forever. Moicano, who turned down a fight in Australia to avoid taxes, ultimately agreed to facing Duncan since it’s a main event.
“It’s a good opportunity for him too,” Moicano said. “Whether we train together or not, he has a chance to break into the top 15. I have the chance to headline and get back to the wins. So in the end, I put that training partner thing aside. At first I was annoyed about it, but whatever, life goes on, let’s go.”
Moicano and Duncan don’t train together much in Florida because the Scottish lightweight wasn’t similar to Moicano’s recent opponents Benoit Saint Denis, Beneil Dariush and Jalin Turner, but have rolled in the past. Duncan won six of seven UFC bouts with three submissions, including a first-round tapout over Terrance McKinney this past December, but most of his pre-UFC victories came by way of knockout.
“I’m going to hold him down for five rounds. He’s an explosive guy, we’re going there to stall,” Moicano said with a laugh. “Don’t expect Moicano to stand and trade. I’m taking him down and controlling him. If he slips, I’ll submit him. Just keep cooking him with elbows. No other way. I know what I’m going to do, he knows what I’m going to do. Fans know. Expect a boring fight. I just want to win, I don’t give a damn [laughs]. I’ll do it like Charles [Oliveira vs. Max Holloway], just for people to complain. ‘Damn, it’s the BMF and you’re going to wrestle him?’ Of course, man. Obviously. That’s exactly what I’m going to do.”
