Renato Moicano To Be Back-Up Fighter For UFC 231

Renato Moicano To Be Back-Up Fighter For UFC 231

By Calum Christie

Renato Moicano was originally scheduled to face Mirsad Bektić (13-1 MMA, 6-1 UFC) on the main card of UFC 231 which features Max Holloway (19-3 MMA, 15-3 UFC) and Brian ‘T-City’ Ortega (14-0 MMA, 6-0 UFC) battling it out for the featherweight title. But it was announced last Wednesday that Bektić had to withdraw from the event due to an injury which left Renato Moicano without an opponent.

Moicano (13-1 MMA, 5-1 UFC) was left on the card with the UFC seeking a late replacement to step up on short notice and face the 29 year-old Brazilian but the organisation have failed to find a replacement therefore the UFC have decided to have Renato play the backup fighter role for the championship main event.

Renato is currently on a two fight winning streak with his previous bout being a submission win over experienced veteran Cub Swanson (25-10) at UFC 227. His only defeat interestingly enough is at the hands of Gracie Black Belt Ortega at UFC 214 via a guillotine choke where he could get the chance to avenge that loss if he is required.

Max Holloway has not had the best year of his UFC career having pulled out of three fights in 2018: UFC 222 (Holloway vs Edgar) due to an injury, UFC 223 (Khabib vs Holloway) due to weight cutting complications and also on international fight week at UFC 226 (Holloway vs Ortega) due to concussion like symptoms. The UFC are not taking any chances of the main event falling apart with Holloway’s reliability this calendar year and have made sure to implement an insurance policy in the form of a backup fighter.

Back up fighters is something we are seeing a lot more frequently on UFC cards with Alexander ‘Drago’ Volkov (UFC 226) and Kamaru Usman (UFC 228) being paid to train and make championship weight in case of any issues with the main event fighters.

UFC 231 takes place at Scotiabank Arena in Toronto on Dec. 8 and also includes a women’s flyweight championship tilt between Valentina Shevchenko and Joanna Jędrzejczyk.

Other notable fights include:
Jimi Manuwa vs Thiago Santos
Alex Oliveira vs Gunnar Nelson
Cláudia Gadelha vs Nina Ansaroff
Eryk Anders vs Elias Theodorou