Renato Moicano was honest in his assessment of where he stands after UFC 317.
Moicano (20-7-1 MMA, 12-7 UFC) lost a unanimous decision to Beneil Dariush (23-6-1 MMA, 17-6-1 UFC) last month at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, marking his second-straight setback.
The 36-year-old wants another aging lightweight, and thinks it’s the perfect timing for him to be matched up with the skidding Michael Chandler (23-10 MMA, 2-5 UFC), who dropped his third-straight fight against Paddy Pimblett at UFC 314.
“To be completely honest with you, the oldest guy in the division (is who I should fight),” Moicano said on his “Show Me The Money” podcast. “Not Dariush – Michael Chandler. I think that fight makes a lot of sense. There is not a better time for the fight. I have been talking sh*t to Chandler for so long, and if I lose to him, brother, I will have to kill myself.”
Moicano found early success when he knocked down Dariush at the end of Round 1 and almost finished him. However, Dariush was able to rally by using his grappling and outlast the fading Moicano.
“I thought he was done,” Moicano said of Dariush after Round 1. “Because I remember exactly the way Charles (Oliveira) put him out. It was kind of the same because he was backing up on the cage, then I hit him. But unfortunately, every time that I did that, I tried to go to the neck because I always get the rear-naked choke, but Dariush was surviving very well.
“He was not giving the back. He was scrambling, and he is very good at scramble and jiu-jitsu. I should have kept striking or even let him get up. I was way quicker than him, I had the speed advantage, but at the same time I was f*cking smoking cigarettes the whole time, bro. No I didn’t, but it was looking like I did. Brother, I was so f*cking tired, I cannot believe myself.”
