Renato Moicano plans to fight out his UFC contract, then test free agency

Renato Moicano says he will fight out the rest of his UFC contract and then test free agency. The 37-year-old lightweight told MMA Fighting that three fights remain, including Saturday's UFC Vegas 123 main event against Tom Nolan. Sherdog and others picked up the interview on Wednesday, October 28.

He has not left the UFC, and there's no report of a new offer. The three-fight count is his own. The UFC has not commented on his contract.

"I want to fight this deal out for sure. I want to do the whole thing and then let's see what happens."

That's how he put it to MMA Fighting, as quoted by Yahoo Sports. He added, "I would like to be a free agent, too." Whether he stays depends partly on what the UFC pays and how he feels about competing. "If the money is good, if it's worth it – nice, let's go," he said, according to SI.

He also pointed to his life outside the cage: another business, his YouTube channel, a gym, and fighters he has started to manage in Brazil. He said he has "this MMA show going on Dec. 5," without giving details. He named boxing and influencing as possibilities too, per MMA Sucka. "I'm not too worried," he said.

The Ortega offer he turned down

He told MMA Fighting the UFC offered him Brian Ortega again, in Qatar in November, and he said no. "I just cannot trust that he's going to show up to the fight," Moicano said. That's his account; the UFC hasn't commented publicly.

Ortega submitted him with a third-round guillotine at UFC 214 in July 2017. Their 2026 rematch fell through twice, first at UFC 326 on March 7 and then at UFC 331 on September 19. Both times Ortega withdrew, the second time with a cut near his eye, as Cageside Press reported. The UFC then moved Moicano to headline against Nolan.

Where his career stands

Moicano is 21-7-1 and trains with American Top Team. He joined the UFC in December 2014 and moved up to lightweight in 2020. At UFC 311 in January 2025, he replaced the injured Arman Tsarukyan a day out and fought Islam Makhachev for the title. Makhachev submitted him in the first round.

A decision loss to Beneil Dariush followed at UFC 317 in June 2025. He ended that skid on April 4, 2026, submitting Chris Duncan in the second round of a main event. That also snapped Duncan's four-fight win streak.

He has done better than the betting market expected over that run. Since mid-2020 he has won 7 of his 11 UFC fights, while the closing prices implied about five wins, according to our records. That includes wins at +220 over Jalin Turner and Benoît Saint Denis in 2024. Those are past results, not a forecast.

Saturday's fight

Nolan, 26 and Brisbane-based, is 11-1 and has won five straight. He lost his UFC debut by knockout to Nikolas Motta in January 2024. His last fight was a decision win over Fares Ziam on June 6, when he was a +255 underdog. This is his first UFC headliner, and it's five rounds at the Meta Apex.

The market has it close: Moicano is -125 and Nolan +105, about 53% to 47% once the bookmakers' margin is removed, per our fight page. Nolan opened as the favourite, and the line flipped to Moicano on October 27.

We think this result matters more to his next contract than anything he said this week. A win over Nolan, 11 years younger, four inches taller and on a five-fight run, is the strongest card he could bring to talks. A loss would hand him two defeats in his last three fights. Win or lose, that leaves two fights on the deal by his count, with nothing booked.