COCONUT CREEK, Fla. – Renato Moicano has his eyes set on headlining another UFC card and knows who he wants standing across from him inside the cage.
At UFC 271, Moicano (16-4-1 MMA, 8-4 UFC) tapped Alexander Hernandez with a rear-naked choke in the second round of their pay-per-view bout. The fight was originally set to take place on the prelims, but after issues at the official weigh-ins caused a fight to be canceled, their bout was moved and landed after the main card opener. Coincidentally, the winner of that kickoff fight is who Moicano has his sights set on next.
“Let’s see who the UFC has to offer, but I heard people are asking for a main event for Bobby Green,” Moicano told MMA Junkie. “Maybe it’s good we do a Fight Night. …That’s it, man. I respect Bobby Green a lot, we fought on the same day, he did a great performance, and so did I.”
Green (29-12-1 MMA, 10-7-1 UFC) defeated Nasrat Haqparast via unanimous decision at UFC 271, sweeping the judges’ scorecards after a dominant striking display to make it two wins in a row for the fan-favorite scrapper.
Moicano’s next main event opportunity would be his second in the UFC. At UFC on ESPN+ 12, the Brazilian took on Chan Sung Jung in the main event in Greenville, S.C. Although he would lose to “The Korean Zombie” in under a minute, Moicano moved back up to the lightweight division, where he has since gone 3-1 with three rear-naked choke submission finishes.
If Moicano gets his wish, he would love to main event alongside Green in the near future, but if not, someone else with a number next to their name would work too.
“He deserves a main event,” Moicano said. “If he goes to a main event, I want to be there. I want to fight with him, promote that fight, get the fans excited about that, but let’s see what the UFC has to offer. I would like to fight ranked opponents like Brad Riddell. …Soon you guys are gonna see me in the top five in the lightweight (division), and eventually with the belt.”
