Renato Moicano still plans on going back to featherweight as he has ‘business to settle’

Renato Moicano is looking to snap his two-fight losing streak when he moves up to lightweight at UFC Brasilia to battle Damir Hadzovic.

In his last fight, he was knocked out by Korean Zombie in the main event of UFC Greenville in just 58 seconds. After a bad weight cut for that one, he realized it was time to move up.

“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 to BJPENN.com. “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.”

When he planned on making his lightweight debut, Moicano originally called out Clay Guida, yet that fight didn’t come to fruition. Instead, he will fight Hadzovic, who’s coming off a decision loss to Christos Giagos.

For Moicano, he doesn’t know how he will get it done. Instead, all he cares about is getting his hand raised to snap the losing skid.

“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,” he 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.”

Although Renato Moicano is fighting someone unranked, he’s still ranked at featherweight. So, he isn’t sure where this win will put him. Instead, he says this move to 155 pounds is not permanent as he has business to settle at featherweight with fighting the likes of Brian Ortega and Korean Zombie again.

“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.”

In the end, Moicano is also eager to fight back home in Brazil and get a win in his home country.

“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,” he concluded. “I want to perform well for them.”

Do you think Renato Moicano will beat Damir Hadzovic at UFC Brasilia?

This article first appeared on BJPENN.com on 3/11/2020.