Renato Moicano was unexpectedly drawn into the drama surrounding Conor McGregor‘s return to the UFC, after McGregor mentioned him in a tweet about a potential fight with Michael Chandler, to which Moicano responded dismissively, but also admitted he was caught off guard by the mention.
Renato Moicano found himself unexpectedly entangled in the drama of Conor McGregor’s UFC return. He didn’t see it coming.
McGregor, before announcing his bout with Michael Chandler, took a jab at Moicano on Twitter. He tweeted, “Chandler-Moicano, now there is a [UFC 300] main event.” Moicano shot back, “Nah, I’m good, too easy.” But even he was surprised by the unexpected social media mention.
Moicano is now days away from his own UFC Vegas 85 fight. He admits he didn’t have time to think of a better comeback.
“I don’t have time right now to be smart or to check Twitter,” Moicano confessed to MMA Fighting. He believes he could have come up with a better response if he had more time. But, he’s currently in training camp.
“I love to talk about fights, but I’m training like a killer so I’m not worrying too much about what McGregor thinks. F*** McGregor,” he said.
Despite dismissing McGregor’s jab, Moicano keeps an eye on his division’s happenings. This includes McGregor’s first fight in three years.
After coaching against each other on The Ultimate Fighter, McGregor was expected to return against Chandler by 2023’s end. That didn’t happen, but Chandler is still waiting, hoping to fight McGregor sooner rather than later.
The next proposed date was UFC 300 in April. But then McGregor announced a surprise June clash with Chandler. They’d fight as middleweights, despite usually competing at 155 pounds. This match hasn’t been finalized or officially announced by the UFC. But Moicano sees McGregor’s comments as another example of McGregor’s control over his fights and opponents.
“Michael Chandler is so desperate to get this fight,” Moicano said. “He’s almost begging. He’s almost on his knees, ‘McGregor fight me!’ I just think that’s hilarious.
“We don’t know if that fight’s going to happen. McGregor is full crazy nowadays. He’s making videos eating food and he looks drunk or on drugs or something, I don’t know. But I like McGregor, to be honest with you. I think he’s funny. I think he’s entertaining. Michael Chandler is just trying to get the fight and it’s kind of lame, if you ask me. It is what it is.”
Chandler has effectively put his career on hold waiting for McGregor. That fight is considered one of the sport’s most lucrative paydays. Moicano doesn’t mind Chandler wanting it, but he’s effectively telling McGregor he’ll do whatever it takes for the fight to happen. Even if that means waiting for more than a year and competing in a much bigger weight class.
“Chandler is saying, ‘Yes, yes, of course!’ On his knees all the time,” Moicano said. “[Chandler says,] ‘OK, I can beat you in any fight, I want you at your best version.’ F*** you, brother. You just want to fight him. It’s fair game. Everyone wants to fight McGregor. If they offered me the fight, of course I would want to fight McGregor. He’s probably the biggest name in MMA and probably of all-time. Everybody knows McGregor.
“But at the same time, I think if Chandler approaches this differently, trying to trash talk, that would be even better. That’s the fight to make. They’re going to make the fight. There’s no other fight for McGregor. Right now, there is no other fight that makes sense and still McGregor tries to play him and he says OK. No, talk trash, talk s*** about him, because that’s the way we like to watch fights with McGregor.”
Moicano feels that McGregor knows Chandler is the best possible fight for his comeback. It’s the only matchup that makes much sense.
That being said, McGregor maintains so much power and control over his career that he could always decide to fight somebody else. And Chandler could be left in the lurch … and he knows it.
“Let’s be honest, who else in the top five, top 10, who would be a good opponent for McGregor?” Moicano said. “Because imagine Benoit Saint Denis with the fight against Dustin Poirier. It doesn’t make any sense to me. That fight doesn’t make any sense, but imagine if they put Saint Denis against McGregor or [Arman] Tsarukyan against McGregor. They’re going to put [Beneil] Dariush [against McGregor], nobody really knows Dariush. To fight McGregor, you have to be a face like Chandler. He was the Bellator champion. The UFC can sell the fight. Imagine against Dariush or against Benoit Saint Denis.
“There is no other fight for McGregor than Chandler. That fight is going to happen, 100 percent. Chandler knows, that’s why he’s keeping his mouth shut. Like McGregor said on the show, you’re going to do like I told you, or something along those lines. Because eventually that is the fight to make.”