Renato Moicano was better than a 2-1 underdog Saturday at Accor Arena in his lightweight bout with Benoit Saint Denis in the main event of UFC Paris. But Moicano looked like a 50-1 favorite in the opening round and that's all he needed.
Moicano took Saint Denis down in the first and simply mashed his face, delivering a frightful beating. It was a surprise that referee Marc Goddard permitted Saint Denis to come out of his corner to start the second. Moicano largely took the second round off, and Saint Denis won it on all three judges' cards, but it didn't matter.
The injuries Saint Denis suffered from Moicano's brutal assault in the first round took their toll as the fight progressed. Saint Denis' right eye was totally closed, his left eye was little more than a slit and he was bleeding from every orifice above his neck. When the ringside doctor told Goddard that Saint Denis couldn't see out of the right eye, Goddard immediately stopped it.
Moicano's shoulder appeared to pop out in the second round, but Moicano fought with it anyway and never mentioned it in his Octagon interview. But these photos, exclusively obtained by KevinIole.com, shows a significant break.
Moicano's toughness can never be questioned, and he went on his post-fight rant without missing a beat. There is no indication at this point how long he will be sidelined.
Moicano praised the city of Paris for being beautiful, and had nothing but good things to say about Saint Denis. But he ripped French President Emmanuel Macron and said, "Democracy is a fallacy."
BSD’s a warrior, man.
— Full Violence ™ (@Full_Violence) September 28, 2024
(📸 Chris Unger/Zuffa LLC) #UFCParis pic.twitter.com/1jhWMSkeHt
The crowd didn't care much for it, but Moicano had his moment. And when the fight was over, he wasn't done. He said he was tired of tough fights and wanted easy ones.
"Paddy Pimblett!!!" Moicano said. "Easy money! Dan Hooker! Easy money."
He won for the fourth time in a row and sixth in his last seven outings. Saint Denis was coming off of a KO loss to Dustin Poirier at UFC 299 in March and vowed to put on a show for the home fans.
He was never in the fight, though, and blamed it on his start.
"It was absolutely unbelievable to be here," Moicano said to the raucous French crowd. "Unfortunately in that first round, I came out a little bit sleepy. That allowed him to do enough damage [to get the stoppage]."