Tom Nolan tried being nice. Renato Moicano wasn’t having it.
In fight week media for UFC Vegas 123, Nolan called the Brazilian “one of my heros.” Moicano’s answer, in a clip Championship Rounds posted on X, was pure Moicano: “Fck that Tom Nolan. I’m gonna beat your fcking ass bro, stop that sh*t. I don’t want compliments I want money.”
He also has a plan for where that money comes from. MiddleEasy reported that Moicano named Ilia Topuria as the opponent he wants next if he beats Nolan in Saturday’s five-round main event on October 31.
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It’s a big ask from a man ranked eighth. Moicano, 37, has been a pro since 2010 and was ranked No. 7 at lightweight in late June before slipping to No. 8 by mid-September. His résumé has real wins, including Calvin Kattar and a Performance of the Night submission of Cub Swanson. It also has the featherweight skids against Brian Ortega, José Aldo and Chan Sung Jung that pushed him toward 155. He moved to American Top Team after the Ortega loss and has been outspoken ever since, on economics, Bitcoin and anything else with a microphone nearby.
Topuria sits on another tier. He’s 17-1, a former UFC champion at both featherweight and lightweight, and the first undefeated fighter to win UFC belts in two divisions. Knockout Daily’s rankings have him No. 3 at lightweight, with his last fight on June 14. His 95.2% takedown defense ranks second in UFC history, which is an ugly number for a judoka-turned-grappler like Moicano to look at. Topuria is in Georgia at the moment, where Championship Rounds posted clips of him being mobbed by fans and driving a KTM X-Bow GT-XR.
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Moicano isn’t the only name circling him. Alexander Volkanovski said he’d run back the Topuria fight if a lightweight title were on the line. “To get that win back would be great. I’d love to test myself against him,” Volkanovski said, per a post from Dovy on X. Paddy Pimblett went the other way, saying he’d prefer a Justin Gaethje rematch over a Topuria fight, according to Spinnin Backfist.
So the line forms, and Moicano is volunteering for the spot Pimblett just passed on. That’s either nerve or good business, and with Moicano it’s usually both. None of it matters if Nolan, the younger man and the guy who showed up with compliments, is still standing in Round 5 on Saturday night.
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