Renato Moicano defeats Drew Dober in back-and-forth war at UFC Vegas 85
The Ultimate Fighting Championship returns to us tonight, February 3, 2024, for UFC Vegas 85, going down live from the UFC Apex in Enterprise, Nevada.
Headlining the event is a middleweight matchup between no. 8 ranked Roman Dolidze (12-2) and no. 11 ranked Nassourdine Imavov (12-4).
Co-headlining the event is a lightweight affair between no. 13 ranked Renato Moicano (18-5-1) and no. 15 ranked Drew Dober (27-13-1).
Moicano made his first appearance in over 14 months tonight, coming in off a submission victory over Brad Riddell in November of 2022 and having gone 4-2 since moving up to 155 lbs, all four wins via rear naked choke submission.
Dober on the other hand came in having gone 4-1 over his latest five appearances, all four wins coming via knockout.
Continue reading to see how our lightweight co-main event of the evening went down:
Official Result: Renato Moicano def. Drew Dober via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)
These two get right to it once the bout begins. Dober lands a hard left hand in an exchange about one minute in, Moicano immediately backing up before shooting in on a takedown attempt. Though Dober stuffs it, Moicano is soon after in on another that he does secure, spending the remainder of the opening round in Dober’s guard and half guard.
Moicano secures another body lock takedown early on in the second, Dober of which is able to get up this time, only to be taken right back down. Dober gives up his back and gets back to his feet with about 70 seconds remaining in the middle stretch. Moicano immediately shoots in on another body lock, but Dober hits a beautiful lateral drop that puts Moicano on his back. Dober reigns down heavy punches and elbows for the final minute of round two, opening a nasty cut on Moicano’s face in the process.
Dober tees off on Moicano in the early goings of the third and final round, forcing another shot out of the Brazilian. Dober goes for the lateral drop again, failing on his attempt and ending up on his back, where he’d finish the fight through the final three-plus minutes, Moicano finally gaining mount in the final 40 seconds.
Drew Dober has certainly improved over the years; there was a time there where if he spent nearly 10 minutes on the ground with someone like Renato Moicano, he would have been submitted, but he didn’t. He stayed tough and made it to the final bell, and if he didn’t go for that second lateral drop, he may have won the fight.
Renato Moicano on the other hand improves his streak to two-straight wins tonight at UFC Vegas 85.
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