Former UFC featherweight Renato Moicano is getting ready to make his debut in the lightweight division, but admits that he still has “business to settle” at featherweight.
Moicano has lost in his last 2 Octagon appearances, being stopped by both, Jose Aldo and Chan Sung Jung via TKO. With both of those being in the featherweight division, Moicano is looking to get back in the win column by moving up to lightweight and taking on Damir Hadzovic at UFC Brasilia this weekend.
He recently talked to BJPENN.com, discussing his last fight against Chan Sung Jung, also known as “The Korean Zombie”, and the motivation behind changing divisions:
“I was too slow at the beginning of the fight, too stiff. But, it is not an excuse, I also had a hard weight cut for that fight, like a really hard one. I was too heavy on the day and didn’t feel good,” Moicano said. “I was thinking about moving up for a while. One of my coaches always was telling me to go and try lightweight because I was cutting too much weight. After the back-to-back losses I tried to figure out what I did wrong and I think I can perform better at 155.”
Moicano revealed he initially wanted to fight Clay Guida in his lightweight debut, but the matchup didn’t materialise. Instead, he will now face Hadzovic and he is excited about a new beginning at lightweight:
“It is a new division, a new time for me. I think in the months since the last fight I’ve developed my game a ton. I’m just visualizing getting my hand raised, I don’t know how it will happen,” Moicano explained. “I have to win because I love what I do and love to compete and this is my life. I really enjoy to fight and to win and I’ve learned from those losses.”
He is still a ranked fighter in the featherweight division and revealed that his jump to lightweight might not be permanent. Moicano suggested that he may return to featherweight for potential fights against, Alexander Volkanovski, Brian Ortega or “KZ” in the future:
“I really don’t know and I’m not thinking about that. I’m just focused on coming back from my losses. I’m still ranked number seven and I want to fight in both divisions. I just want to fight with the best. So after I win here, I want to fight a ranked opponent. But, it doesn’t matter featherweight or lightweight. This might not be a permanent move,” Moicano said. “I still have business to settle, I want to fight Brian Ortega and Korean Zombie again, I want to fight Volkanovski. I’m looking to fight the best, but I also might want to fight at lightweight too as it is a good opportunity for me.”
For now, Moicano is just looking forward to getting a win in his home country of Brazil:
“It will be awesome because I’ve only fought there once and I felt really blessed. It makes me more hungry to win and I feel the energy of my country behind me. I want to perform well for them.” he concluded.
This article first appeared on CLOSEDGUARDMEDIA.com on 12th March, 2020.
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