When he got the call in the middle of the night on less than two days notice to fight Islam Makhachev, Money Moicano knew what was likely to happen.
He’s no fool.
Makhachev is the best fighter in the world, and right now, it’s not that close.
Moicano was scheduled to fight Beneil Dariush, but when Arman Tsarukyan decided at 1 a.m. Friday that his back was too sore to permit him to fight Makhachev for the lightweight title at 9 p.m. on Saturday, Moicano eagerly stepped in.
The odds were massively against the Brazilian, who’d won four in a row and six of his last seven at that point. And to be fair, the odds would have been long had he taken a full training camp.
But with 40 hours notice, that was like sending a hitter who hadn’t swung a bat in a month to face Paul Skenes with the game on the line in 40-degree temperatures.
It wasn’t likely to end well.
And, predictably, it did not.
Makhachev successfully defended his belt at UFC 311 by submitting Moicano with a Brabo choke in the first round.
It ended his winning streak.
It killed his momentum.
And yeah — he’d do it again.
Moicano, who will now fight Dariush on Saturday on the main card of UFC 317 in Las Vegas, said it made more sense to pass up the chance.
“You have to be ready in life,” Moicano said. “I don’t regret any minute that I accepted the fight. Since then, I got a lot of money. I’ve been able to grow my YouTube channel. I have multiple streams of income now, so I’m making very good money.
“I could retire, but I don’t want to retire because the UFC is still paying me very good and I don’t regret taking it.”
In the UFC, winning fights keeps you employed.
But winning on the mic — and stepping up when others won’t — is how you get paid.
Moicano’s post-fight moments on the mic are the stuff of legend at this point, and when he competes, it’s almost as if the interview is as interesting as the fight.
He’s one of those guys who loves to fight, happens to be good at it and has the perfect attitude to deal with the turbulent world of a professional fighter.
He shrugged at the thought that he lost. He was presented a chance to live out a dream, and he took it.
It would have been better had he known three or four months out. But a chance to fight for the title is a chance to fight for the title, and even after getting submitted and having his winning streak snapped, he says he’d do it all over again.
“We’re talking now about that I lost,” Moicano said. “True. I lost. But imagine I connected on a punch and knocked him out. I’m the [champion]. “You can’t have regrets. I don’t regret anything. You have to understand, sometimes you do come up short. Sometimes you [win] and sometimes you lose. But you have to take the opportunity when it’s there.”
He’s still on Saturday against Dariush, but Moicano lost a bit of an opportunity to taunt his opponent when he went to Dariush’s wikipedia page.
He’d been comment on the gray streaks in Dariush’s hair, and was taunting him about his age.
And then came Wikipedia and, well, Money had to change course.
“[I looked him up] and he’s only 15 days older than me,” Moicano said, laughing. “I can’t use that trash talk any more.”
It’s just as well, since he’s wrapped up his second training camp for Dariush and is sick of talking about him.
He wants to get the win to begin another positive streak and position himself for a shot at the championship.
Ilia Topuria, the undefeated former featherweight champion, will challenge the one-time lightweight title-holder Charles Oliveira on Saturday for the belt Makhachev vacated.
Makhachev turned his back on a lightweight title defense against Topuria to move to 170 and challenge champion Jack Della Maddalena for his strap. That infuriated Topuria who has been bad-mouthing Makhachev regularly. And Topuria has talking of chasing Makhachev to welterweight if Makhachev bests Della Maddalena.
Moicano knows first-hand how good Makhachev is, but he said he is highly impressed by Topuria.
He said Topuria would have benefited by building his body up to be ready to fight at welterweight, but said he has the skills to win.
“If he had the time, I think he would beat Makhachev,” Moicano said. “I think so. … Ilia Topuria has great takedown defense, is a good boxer and has good jiu-jitsu. … I think Topuria would win, but who knows? It’s a fight.”It’s a fight. It’s always a fight. You win some. You lose some.But if there is one thing Money Moicano has proven, it’s this: The ones who say yes when others say no are the one who get paid either way.
And there’s no more of a yes man in that regard than Renato “Money” Moicano.
Mark J. Rebilas/Imagn Images
Renato "Money" Moicano will face Beneil Dariush on Saturday in Las Vegas.