Renato Moicano Dismisses Talks of Potential Clash with Conor McGregor: ‘He’s Not Fighting Anybody’
Renato Moicano respects what Conor McGregor has done for mixed martial arts.
On Saturday, Moicano scored his fourth-straight win inside the Octagon via a brutal first-round beatdown of Benoit Saint-Denis on the Frenchman’s home turn. While the ‘God of War’ made it out of the first five minutes, he was bloodied and battered to the point that the cageside physician was forced to step in and force the stoppage immediately following the second stanza.
Immediately following his big win at UFC Paris, Moicano fielded questions during the post-fight press conference, many of them regarding his future and what may come next. Unsurprisingly, a potential fight with Conor McGregor was brought up.
‘Money’ was quick to shut the idea down, making it clear that while he respects everything ‘Mystic Mac’ has done for the sport, he has no interest in waiting around for a fighter who simply doesn’t want to fight anymore.
“Conor McGregor and me, I don’t think he’s fighting ‘Money’ Moicano… To be honest, one of the fighters I respect the most in the game is McGregor because he completely changed the game,” Moicano said. “So, I will pay my respect to him just because now, he’s almost a billionaire. So, he can have, I don’t know, 200 losses and he will still be McGregor. He’s not fighting anybody, I think…
“I would not wait to fight McGregor because like Chandler, it’s just a trap right now. I think McGregor makes more money outside fighting. So, I don’t think he wants to go to cage to somebody that is ready to kill somebody for money” (h/t Sportskeeda).
Renato Moicano thinks a fight with Paddy Pimblett will be great for exposure
Instead, Moicano will focus on scoring a showdown with rising lightweight contender Paddy Pimblett.
“I think it’s going to be a huge exposure,” Moicano said when asked about a potential showdown with the Liverpudlian. “Right now, I’m looking for exposure. I’m looking for cameras because I’ve been in the UFC for 10 years. This year will be 10 years. Three years ago, nobody knew me. Nobody knew me, and I always work hard. I always have put in the work. But it doesn’t matter if you’re the best fighter in the world nobody knows.
“I want more cameras. I want more people talking about my name in MMA because that way I can bring more attention, and I can make my case to fight for the belt eventually.”
Moicano called out ‘The Baddy’ during his post-fight interview which received an immediate response from Pimblett.
Unfortunately, we may be waiting a while for that fight after Moicano revealed that he suffered a nasty shoulder injury during his fight in The City of Light.
