Renato Moicano is no stepping stone
Renato Moicano has another tough task in front of him. The competitor of many tough fights, the Brazilian contender must go into the back yard of the French contender Benoit Saint-Denis.
A longtime lightweight contender, Renato Moicano has just found his footing with the fighting faithful of the UFC. But the task this weekend is very tall. And the quicksand of memory is hungry and a loss can potentially set the 35 year old back to the stone ages.
The plight of Renato Moicano
Renato Moicano has been given many chances at the division’s elite. He has come up short against mega names like Jose Aldo, Rafael Dos Anjos, and The Korean Zombie. But he’s not been a punching bag in all of his high level fights.
Moicano has wins over Cub Swanson, Calvin Kattar and Jeremy Stephens, all quality wins. But it seems when he gets to the top level and an opportunity to go to the top, he comes up short.
And that’s been the story of Moicano’s career in the UFC. He will rattle off several wins and look like a world beater only to get the shot at the next level and come up very short.
But we can forgive the short notice fight against a Rafael Dos Anjos and a loss to Jose Aldo, a perennial MMA legend. And in recent times, Moicano hasn’t been terrible, going from prospect to veteran of the sport.
Beating Benoit
It may seem like Renato Moicano is the dusk and Benoit Saint-Denis is the dawn. But that was the same in his past fights against Jalen Turner and Drew Dober. Turner had Moicano done at the end of the first round at UFC 300. Turner tried for a walk off knockout and Moicano stayed in the fight only to get to the ground and a second round finish.
That Turner fight has been than allegory of of Moicano’s career. Beat him down but he always gets back up.
Now we’re looking at a crossroads for Moicano. Benoit Saint-Denis is smashing his way to the top of the lightweight division, though coming off of a loss. Saint-Denis wants a rebound ranked win, something that Moicano can provide.
But as terrifyingly brutal as Saint-Denis is, the Frenchman is not bulletproof. We know he can be knocked out. We know he gets tired. Renato Moicano works the best when he has an opponent tired. He only has one knockout on his record, but his 10 submission wins are interesting.
Saint-Denis is no slouch on the ground. Should Moicano be able to go out and break the mindset of Saint-Denis, make him think he’s back there against a Dustin Poirier, he could turn the tide in this five round fight.
Convincing Father Time
At 35 years of age, Father Time is lurking menacingly in the corner of Renato Moicano. Though Father Time is undefeated, convincing the omnipresent ticking clock that one’s time isn’t up is not impossible.
Moicano has the old man experience under his belt. He knows how to weather a storm of fire and fury. He has tricks up his sleeve that young bucks like Saint-Denis have yet to learn. He will need to muster every one of these advantages in Paris this weekend against the hometown kid.
Renato Moicano hasn’t won all the big fights he’s been in, yet he’s rarely the stepping stone. He loses to giants: Aldo, Zombie. But the ones he’s sent out as a sacrifice to are the fights Moicano thrives in. Jalin Turner found that out the hard way. Will Benoit Saint-Denis, too?
