Renato Moicano’s latest fight didn’t go his way, but he seems pleased with the payday he walked away with.
Moicano stepped in as a last-minute replacement to face Islam Makhachev at UFC 311 this past weekend, following an injury that forced Arman Tsarukyan to withdraw from the event. Originally scheduled to fight Beneil Dariush, Moicano seized the championship opportunity but lost via D’Arce choke submission midway through the opening round.
After the loss, the Brazilian revealed on the Show Me The Money podcast that his earnings for the fight surpassed $950,000. He expressed frustration with California’s high taxation while discussing his payday.
The taxation is crazy. Crazy. I don’t know how people survive,” Moicano said. “California is one of the biggest GDPs in the world. If you took their state, it’s like a country, but why? Because f*cking big tech. Silicon Valley, startups, and all that stuff, but these motherf*ckers don’t pay taxes. ... You know what’s up. Jeff Bezos motherf*cker is not paying any f*cking money or taxes.
Moicano also addressed criticism, particularly from Paddy Pimblett, who took issue with him tapping out rather than enduring the submission.
Moicano, however, has no regrets about accepting the fight on short notice.
I don’t get mad, but I was kind of surprised with the takes of everybody,” Moicano said. “People say so much dumb stuff, even some people were saying, ‘You should not have accepted the fight. You should have fought with Dariush.’ I say, ‘Man, you don’t know what you’re talking about. You don’t know how much money I made. You don’t know how much the opportunity means to me.’
Moicano defended his decision to step up, emphasizing the importance of taking risks in life.
Imagine, Hunter [Campbell] called me and said, ‘You’re fighting for the title.’ I say, ‘No, you know what? I think Islam is better than me, and I think I’m going to lose tomorrow.’ If you think like that, that’s why you’re working a nine-to-five job — because you don’t take chances, you don’t take risks. You know what? You’re going to be a piece of sh*t for the rest of your life. That’s the f*cking truth.
For Moicano, the opportunity to fight for a title — even under challenging circumstances — was too meaningful to pass up, regardless of the outcome.