Renato Moicano disappointed with his behavior after UFC Brasilia, eyes Felder or Iaquinta next

Renato Moicano isn’t pleased with the way he handled himself following his win at UFC Brasilia.

Moicano was moving up to lightweight after back-to-back losses and quickly submitted Damir Hazdovic in under a minute. Following the win, you could hear the Brazilain complaining on the broadcast as he wanted to fight longer given he was at home and wanted to really see how his body would do at lightweight.

Yet, he was not given that opportunity which is why he acted out, but he regrets his actions.

“I was a little bit frustrated because I wanted to fight in front of my family and friends and my fans in Brazil. It was really different atmosphere than I am used to so it was a unique experience. It was not good behavior and I did wrong,” Moicano said to BJPENN.com. “But, I was frustrated because there were no fans and it made me angry because I trained so hard. The guy didn’t stop the takedown but I was wrong to do what I did after the fight. Damir is a good guy and he is a family man. I had to treat him better but I am happy with my performance. I lost my mind at the end of the fight and I want to apologize to everyone.”

Although he only fought for 44 seconds, Moicano says he feels comfortable at lightweight. He says he weighed around 175 pounds inside the Octagon. Which, the Brazilian believes makes him faster and have better cardio which will ultimately make him a better fighter.

“I feel very good. My weight cut was good because I didn’t cut much weight,” he explained. “I was still big on the day of the fight, I was weighing like 174, 175 something like that, I was not small and was like a natural lightweight. I felt really good.”

Image Credit: Renato Moicano’s Instagram

For Moicano, he says he is focused on lightweight for the time being, especially because they removed him from the featherweight rankings.

“They remove me from the featherweight rankings and they took me off. Right now, I don’t want to fight at featherweight because I don’t want to have to work my way up,” Moicano said. “I don’t want to fight unranked guys, I want to fight the top guys. I lost to top contenders in Aldo and Zombie so I have no idea why I came off the rankings.”

With the Brazilian committed to lightweight, Moicano has two names in mind.

“I respect Paul Felder a lot. I know he is talking about not fighting as often so maybe he wants big fight. But, it makes sense,” Moicano explained. I was seventh at featherweight and he is seventh at lightweight and I respect the guy. But, he lost to Hooker and I think he lost to Barboza. I want to test myself against him.

“I want to fight the best. If Felder doesn’t accept it, I want Iaquinta because he is a good guy too and a ranked guy who fought for the belt,” he continued. “It makes sense for it because he doesn’t have a fight booked. I want all the hard fights at lightweight and I know I can do well.”

Who do you think should be next for Renato Moicano?

This article first appeared on BJPENN.com on 3/24/2020.