At UFC 311, Renato Moicano will look to earn the biggest win of his career by extending his current winning streak to five. “Money” has been on a great run of form since beating Brad Riddell in 2022, stopping Benoit Saint Denis in Paris last September to make a real dent in the lightweight rankings.
On his return at the Intuit Dome in Los Angeles, he will face UFC veteran and 155-pound staple, Beneil Dariush. The #9-ranked contender may be coming off of back-to-back first round knockout losses but suffering setbacks to Charles Oliveira and Arman Tsarukyan aren’t major red flags.
This is especially true considering that his loss to Oliveira at UFC 289 broke his eight-fight winning streak which put him within reach of a title shot if he was able to get past “Do Bronx”. With Moicano being one spot behind him in the top 15, it seems that the Brazilian isn’t overjoyed about this particular matchup.
Considering that he already has wins over two other ranked opponents, it wouldn’t have been surprising to see Moicano take on a much higher ranked contender next time out though that’s usually easier said than done when it comes to everything falling into place.
Though he isn’t going to let it affect his preparations and mindset, he was very open and honest during his recent appearance on The Ariel Helwani Show. Moicano often jokes about wanting easy money instead of tough opponents and clearly he considers Dariush someone that falls into the latter category.
“Dariush, he’s a tough fighter. That is not what I was expecting and I don’t think it’s what I deserve, but who gives a f***. It’s a fight. Anything can happen and I don’t care who I’m fighting. I just have to be competitive and keep showing up.”
