The co-main event of UFC Vegas 85 featured a banger between two of the most exciting lightweights in the UFC, Renato Moicano and Drew Dober.
Drew Dober is a well-known knockout artist, with 9 of 13 wins in his UFC run coming by way of knockout. He’s picked up wins in 3 of his last 4, with KO finishes in all of those victories. He looks to stay hot following a first-round KO of Ricky Glenn in October.
Renato Moicano made his name known by many in November of 2022 when his post-fight interview after a win against Brad Riddell caught the attention of many MMA fans. Moicano has also won 3 of his last 4 by finish, but all wins come by submission. Moicano has taken on some of the toughest tests possible during his UFC tenet, similar to his opponent.
This fight is a classic tale of striker vs. grappler, however, Moicano stated pre-fight that he intends to stand and bang with Dober.
Fight Recap
The fight started hot with both men looking to end the fight early. Dober threw some winging hooks that caught the Brazilian’s attention early, forcing an early, successful takedown entry. Moicano played around in half guard while looking to mix some short shots with submission attempts. He seemed to prefer attacking the arm triangle, but the attempts were defended quickly by Dober without him being put in much trouble.
After finding success with his wrestling in Round One, Moicano decided to go right back to it in the second. He immediately got Dober to his back, and even though Dober got up, Moicano managed to get him back down and hold him there for most of the round. Dober worked back to his feet with a minute left in the round and landed his own takedown, this time bloodying up Moicano badly. With blood pouring everywhere, Dober looked to pick his shots but was ultimately forced to relax in full guard until the end of the round.
Dober did a great job stuffing the early takedowns on Moicano in Round Three. A cracking right hand looked to hurt Moicano, but Dober stayed patient. Another successful takedown attempt by Moicano spelled some trouble for Dober. Moicano was content holding full guard and landing short shots, however, the ref wasn’t. He warned Moicano multiple times to be more active or advance position, which prompted the Brazilian to stand up and land some bombs. Moicano advanced position to half-guard and rode the final minute out from there.
The scorecards read 29-28 across the board for Renato “Money” Moicano. After the win, Moicano delivered another amazing post-fight interview, shouting out his 62-year-old father who just had a kid, and calling out MMA Guru.
UFC Fighters React to Renato Moicano Getting His $
What did you think about Moicano’s performance? Who do you want to see him fight next? Let us know in the comments below!
Featured Image Credit to Embed from Getty Images
