{"id":944212,"date":"2026-10-28T18:00:31","date_gmt":"2026-10-28T18:00:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/944212\/"},"modified":"2026-10-28T18:00:31","modified_gmt":"2026-10-28T18:00:31","slug":"ufc-star-renato-moicano-targets-free-agency-after-fighting-out-ufc-contract","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/944212\/","title":{"rendered":"UFC Star Renato Moicano Targets Free Agency After Fighting Out UFC Contract"},"content":{"rendered":"<p id=\"inline-text-0\" class=\"mt-[18px] md:mt-0 mb-[18px] [&amp;_a]:text-secondary my-f-1.5\" q:key=\"0\" q:id=\"5q\">Top-ranked UFC lightweight contender Renato Moicano outlined a surprising plan for his fighting career ahead of his headlining UFC bout this weekend. <\/p>\n<p id=\"inline-text-1\" class=\"my-[18px] [&amp;_a]:text-secondary my-f-1.5\" q:key=\"0\" q:id=\"5v\">Following <a href=\"https:\/\/www.si.com\/fannation\/mma\/news\/ufc-333-free-live-stream-results-highlights-for-volkanovski-vs-evloev\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">last weekend\u2019s highly-anticipated UFC 333 event <\/a>in Abu Dhabi that saw <a href=\"https:\/\/www.si.com\/fannation\/mma\/news\/ufc-legend-alexander-volkanovski-teases-ilia-topuria-rematch-before-retirement\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">Petr Yan and Alexander Volkanovski both successfully defend their belts<\/a>, the UFC returns home to Las Vegas this weekend for another UFC Fight Night event at the Meta APEX.<\/p>\n<p id=\"inline-text-2\" class=\"my-[18px] [&amp;_a]:text-secondary my-f-1.5\" q:key=\"0\" q:id=\"60\">The 12-fight card is headlined by top-ranked lightweights Moicano and Tom Nolan, who is set to compete in his first UFC main event after upsetting Fares Ziam his last time out in June. <\/p>\n<p>UFC Vegas 123 Headliner Renato Moicano Eyeing Free Agency <\/p>\n<p id=\"inline-text-4\" class=\"my-[18px] [&amp;_a]:text-secondary my-f-1.5\" q:key=\"0\" q:id=\"6a\">One of the more outspoken fighters on the UFC roster, Moicano has endeared himself to fans as much through his unique personality as he has through his success inside the cage. <\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/01m61ny7khbq27m91z18.jpg\" alt=\"Renato Moicano (blue gloves) reacts after defeating Jalin Turner (not pictured) during UFC 300 at T-Mobile Arena.\" title=\"Renato Moicano (blue gloves) reacts after defeating Jalin Turner (not pictured) during UFC 300 at T-Mobile Arena.\" width=\"360\" height=\"240\" class=\"undefined w-full w-full blur-[5px]\" q:id=\"6m\"\/><\/p>\n<p>Renato Moicano (blue gloves) reacts after defeating Jalin Turner (not pictured) during UFC 300 at T-Mobile Arena. | USA TODAY Sports via Reuters Connect<\/p>\n<p id=\"inline-text-6\" class=\"my-[18px] [&amp;_a]:text-secondary my-f-1.5\" q:key=\"0\" q:id=\"6s\">The Brazilian has seen his profile grow considerably in recent years thanks to his \u201cMoney Moicano\u201d gimmick that he\u2019s leaned into during post-fight interviews and on social media, and this week Moicano indicated that he intends to complete the remaining three fights on his current UFC deal before potentially testing free agency. <\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/01m61nz5xvp3vyen1kr1.jpg\" alt=\"Beneil Dariush (red gloves) fights Renato Moicano (blue gloves) during UFC 317 at T-Mobile Arena.\" title=\"Beneil Dariush (red gloves) fights Renato Moicano (blue gloves) during UFC 317 at T-Mobile Arena.\" width=\"360\" height=\"240\" class=\"undefined w-full w-full blur-[5px]\" q:id=\"74\"\/><\/p>\n<p>Beneil Dariush (red gloves) fights Renato Moicano (blue gloves) during UFC 317 at T-Mobile Arena. | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect<\/p>\n<p id=\"inline-text-8\" class=\"my-[18px] [&amp;_a]:text-secondary my-f-1.5\" q:key=\"0\" q:id=\"7a\">\u201cI fight this, I see how I feel, I fight the next and I see how I feel,\u201d Moicano told <a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/MMAFighting\/status\/2115435919604158834\" rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\">Mike Heck<\/a>. \u201cAnd [see] how much money I\u2019m making in UFC. If the money is good, if it\u2019s worth it \u2013 nice, let\u2019s go. If not, I will have [other] stuff to take care of. I have another business, I have this YouTube [channel], I have the gym, I have some other stuff I\u2019m doing\u2026I want to fight this deal out for sure, I want to do the whole thing. And then, let\u2019s see what happens. I would like to be a free agent\u2026Just to see what it\u2019s like.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Renato Moicano Fought for Lightweight Title at UFC 311<\/p>\n<p id=\"inline-text-10\" class=\"my-[18px] [&amp;_a]:text-secondary my-f-1.5\" q:key=\"0\" q:id=\"7k\">A member of the UFC roster since 2014, Moicano initially joined the promotion as a featherweight and went 5-3 before moving up to the lightweight division in 2020. <\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/01m61p0ade320vwgcy1b.jpg\" alt=\"Brad Riddell (red gloves) and Renato Moicano (blue gloves) during UFC 281 at Madison Square Garden.\" title=\"Brad Riddell (red gloves) and Renato Moicano (blue gloves) during UFC 281 at Madison Square Garden.\" width=\"360\" height=\"240\" class=\"undefined w-full w-full blur-[5px]\" q:id=\"7w\"\/><\/p>\n<p>Brad Riddell (red gloves) and Renato Moicano (blue gloves) during UFC 281 at Madison Square Garden. | USA TODAY Sports<\/p>\n<p id=\"inline-text-12\" class=\"my-[18px] [&amp;_a]:text-secondary my-f-1.5\" q:key=\"0\" q:id=\"82\">After starting his run as a UFC lightweight by going 3-2, the 37-year-old put together a four-fight win streak to set up a huge meeting with Beniel Dariush at UFC 311, where he ended up stepping in to replace Arman Tsarukyan <a href=\"https:\/\/www.si.com\/fannation\/mma\/news\/ufc-311-free-live-stream-results-highlights-islam-makhachev-vs-renato-moicano\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">and challenge Islam Makhachev for the UFC lightweight belt<\/a> on just a day\u2019s notice.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/01m61p1j1xbzax0h7axd.jpg\" alt=\"Islam Makhachev (red gloves) fights Renato Moicano (blue gloves) in a lightweight title fight during UFC 311 at Intuit Dome.\" title=\"Islam Makhachev (red gloves) fights Renato Moicano (blue gloves) in a lightweight title fight during UFC 311 at Intuit Dome.\" width=\"360\" height=\"240\" class=\"undefined w-full w-full blur-[5px]\" q:id=\"8e\"\/><\/p>\n<p>Islam Makhachev (red gloves) fights Renato Moicano (blue gloves) in a lightweight title fight during UFC 311 at Intuit Dome. | USA TODAY Sports via Reuters Connect<\/p>\n<p id=\"inline-text-14\" class=\"my-[18px] [&amp;_a]:text-secondary my-f-1.5\" q:key=\"0\" q:id=\"8k\">Moicano did end up facing Dariush his next time out at UFC 317 and dropped a unanimous decision, but he rebounded from those back-to-back losses in his most recent fight <a href=\"https:\/\/www.si.com\/fannation\/mma\/news\/ufc-fight-night-renato-moicano-vs-chris-duncan-live-stream-results-highlights\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">when he met Chris Duncan in a UFC Fight Night main event <\/a>and ended the Scotsman\u2019s four-fight win streak. <\/p>\n<p>Tom Nolan Enters First UFC Main Event on Five-Fight Win Streak<\/p>\n<p id=\"inline-text-16\" class=\"my-[18px] [&amp;_a]:text-secondary my-f-1.5\" q:key=\"0\" q:id=\"8u\">A win streak would certainly put Moicano in a strong negotiating position as a potential free agent, but the Brazilian is set for a significant challenge this weekend when he takes on Nolan in Las Vegas.<\/p>\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">Stay off the tracks \ud83d\ude82<\/p>\n<p>Tom Nolan looks for his 6th consecutive win in the main event of <a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/hashtag\/UFCVegas123?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" rel=\"nofollow\">#UFCVegas123<\/a>!<\/p>\n<p>[ OCT 31 | 8pmET LIVE on <a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/paramountplus?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" rel=\"nofollow\">@ParamountPlus<\/a> ] <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/yfJf05MYRV\" rel=\"nofollow\">pic.twitter.com\/yfJf05MYRV<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u2014 UFC (@ufc) <a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/ufc\/status\/2115189288883339723?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" rel=\"nofollow\">October 27, 2026<\/a><\/p>\n<p id=\"inline-text-18\" class=\"my-[18px] [&amp;_a]:text-secondary my-f-1.5\" q:key=\"0\" q:id=\"94\">A contract winner on the 2023 edition of Dana White\u2019s Contender Series, Nolan was knocked out by Nikolas Motta in his promotional debut in 2024 but has gotten his hand raised in all five of his UFC appearances since then.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"22\" height=\"22\" alt=\"\" src=\"https:\/\/assets.minutemediacdn.com\/platform\/google_discover_icon.svg\" class=\"shrink-0\"\/>Add us as a preferred source on Google<a aria-label=\"Follow si.com on Google News\" href=\"https:\/\/www.google.com\/preferences\/source?q=si.com\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer nofollow\" preventdefault:click=\"\" class=\"flex h-[30px] w-[30px] shrink-0 items-center justify-center rounded-full bg-primary font-group-large text-sm font-medium text-white transition-colors hover:bg-secondary focus:bg-secondary md:w-auto md:gap-2.5 md:px-4 md:py-[5px]\" on:click=\"q-Dv4Wq0Bn.js#s_lDqay9E5m5g[0]\" q:id=\"9a\">Follow<\/a><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Top-ranked UFC lightweight contender Renato Moicano outlined a surprising plan for his fighting career ahead of his headlining&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":944213,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[570],"tags":[64,63,786,785,85],"class_list":["post-944212","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-mma","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-fighting","tag-mma","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/944212","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=944212"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/944212\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/944213"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=944212"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=944212"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=944212"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}