LAS VEGAS – Renato Moicano’s main focus during his in-cage interview was religion and expletives.
When he got the microphone backstage at Meta APEX, however, his focus changed. There was a name on the tip of his tongue who he wants after his dominant UFC Fight Night 272 main event win Saturday over Chris Duncan.
Advertisement
“There is one motherf*cker I have bad blood (with),” Moicano said on the Paramount+ post-fight show. “His name is Ortega. Brian Ortega, man: He runs the first time. I was beating him the first time. He got me. Fair enough. It was my first defeat. But now I want revenge. I want his head. I want his head. I want to kill this motherf*cker.”
So where does the bad blood stem from? It’s not abundantly clear, though the past competitive history and its result (a third-round submission loss in 2017) does play a factor – as does Ortega’s withdrawal from a March rematch.
“I was supposed to fight him last month and then he pulled out,” Moicano said. “I think it’s fair to say we need to settle this thing. We need to fight him, especially in Brazil. I know the UFC is coming back to Brazil. So let’s do Ortega vs. Moicano.”
Regardless, Moicano thinks a big name should be next. He said high-risk, low-reward names have been coming his way but he wants a matchup he can promote better.
Advertisement
“It’s not that I don’t want to fight up-and-comers,” Moicano said. “The business is that I’m doing stuff outside, too – YouTube – and I’m making money outside, too. The guy needs to at least have some hype. Chris Duncan, I took that fight because I am on a two-fight skid. He’s not famous. Nobody knows him. Today, this APEX card was f*cking sh*t. Dana White, don’t listen to that. But you’re having Moicano as a main event in f*cking Apex. Are you kidding me? Who is f*cking Chris Duncan, brother? That fight doesn’t add to my career, doesn’t add to my YouTube.
“I think it should be a fight I can promote, like Ortega, like Paddy Pimblett, like Dan Hooker, maybe Benoit Saint Denis, maybe somebody the fans know. That’s what I’m saying. There are a lot of guys who are very good, but nobody knows them. Everybody can win and everybody can lose. It’s not about winning and losing. It’s about getting the most hype, people talking about you. This is the business.”
This article originally appeared on MMA Junkie: Renato Moicano reveals hopeful next UFC opponent he wants to ‘kill’
