Renato Moicano scoffs at rankings ahead of UFC Paris return, claims popularity matters more
Ahead of his main event return this weekend, Brazilian star, Renato Moicano appears to be unconcerned about the ranking system in the promotion, claiming being a popular fighter among the fans likely matters more in this era of combat sports.
Moicano, who currently holds the number eleven rank at the lightweight limit, is slated to headline UFC Fight Night Paris this weekend, taking on Nimes native, Benoit Saint Denis in a high-stakes pairing — attempting to turn in his fourth consecutive victory.
Sidelined since he featured against Jalin Turner at UFC 300 back in April, Brasilia native, Moicano rallied from an early knockdown to land a second round ground strikes TKO win, adding to a run of triumphs over both Drew Dober, and Brad Riddell.
Renato Moicano shuts down importance of rankings ahead of UFC return
And despite chasing high-profile fights off the back of a would-be victory against French contender, Saint Denis this weekend in the French capital, Moicano claimed that rankings in the current state of the UFC are almost meaningless, instead preferring popularity markers with fans.
“I think the rankings, they don’t matter,” Renato Moicano said during his media availability ahead of UFC Fight Night Paris this weekend whilst speaking with assembled media. You know, if the rankings matter, things will be easier but no, we saw like last month, Dan Hooker beating Mateusz (Gamrot) and they were pretty far on the rankings. So we see some guys like — even (Conor) McGregor, back in the day, he was like, I don’t know, how many years without fighting and he was in the rankings.”
“I think this sport, we have to try to see like the popularity, you know, the momentum,” Renato Moicano explained. “And even though Benoit Saint Denis ranked behind me, I think he has a lot of momentum. I think he has a lot of popularity, especially in Europe and I think that could catapult me — not to the rankings, but to popularity and I could get event better fights.”
