Long-time UFC featherweight fighter Renato Moicano has revealed that he’s stepping up to lightweight for his next Octagon outing.
Moicano has been plying his trade at 145lbs in the UFC for the past five years and has compiled a number of big wins along the way against the likes of Jeremy Stephens, Calvin Kattar and Cub Swanson, but back-to-back TKO losses against Jose Aldo and ‘The Korean Zombie,’ together with difficult weight-cuts have resulted in his coaching team convincing him to move up in weight.
“Some coaches have been asking me to do this test at lightweight,” Moicano told mmafighting.com. “I was apprehensive at first, but Mike Brown has asked me many times since I moved to ATT. We’re used to cutting a lot of weight in Brazil, and that was never a problem for me, but I’ve suffered a lot in my last three fights.
“After my last loss, Mike Brown texted me saying ‘I think it’s time for you to move up. You have to at least make a test. If you don’t like it, fine, you can go back (to 145),’ and that’s what I’m going to do.”
Moicano has agreed, though he certainly is keeping the option of returning back down to featherweight in the future open.
“I still can make 145 because I know other athletes that are heavier than me, like Zabit (Magomedsharipov) and (Max) Holloway, but MMA in general is starting to change. Fighters aren’t getting so much bigger like they used to in the past.
“I don’t rule out going back to 145 because my losses were to top 5 opponents, but I’m ranked No. 8 now and I don’t know who I could fight there. It’s a good time to test myself at 155 and see how that goes. It’s all very flexible today, you see fighters jumping weight classes all the time, and I’m open to doing that for interesting fights that are worth it.”
As for who he wants to face in his first outing at 155lbs, Moicano has suggested veteran UFC fighter Clay Guida.
“I’m a huge fan of his and since he has fought many times in Brazil before, I don’t think that would be a problem for him. He’s a veteran and a popular fighter, so that would be good to maybe make it the main or co-main event in Brasilia.
“He always puts on great fights. I’ve always looked out for big-name opponents since my debut and I plan on doing the same at 155: aim for big fights, good opponents.”
