Can Money Moicano Pull Off One of the Biggest Upsets in UFC History?
In a shocking turn of events Arman Tsarukyan has pulled out of the Main Event against Islam Makhachev due to a back injury he sustained while cutting the final pounds for his weigh-in late last night. As a result, number 10-ranked Renato Moicano stepped in on one day's notice to compete in his first-ever title fight. He was originally scheduled for a three-round fight with Beneil Dariush. He knew months prior he would be the backup fighter if someone was unable to compete so he was able to easily make championship weight. I will break down if Money Moicano can pull off one of the biggest upsets in UFC history.
Moicano is currently on a four-fight winning streak with three of those fights he was able to finish his opponent. In his last fight against Benoit Saint-Denis, he was able to get a good wrestler and grappler to the ground and absolutely dominate him which resulted in the doctor coming in and stopping the fight before the third round started. That should ultimately give Moicano some confidence against another good wrestler and grappler in Islam. If Moicano can somehow get this fight to the ground with himself on top he can do some serious damage and potentially finish Islam. All it takes is one bad step or bad scramble and Moicano would be in full control and in his world.
There have been some incredible upsets that have happened recently in the UFC and this fight potentially has that same feel. When Juliana Pena was able to dethrone Amanda Nunes all she needed was to try and find herself on the ground and she could submit Nunes and that's exactly what happened. A similar outcome was when Alexa Grasso was able to scramble her way to Valentina Shevchenko's back and submit her with a rear naked choke. All those upsets were one-sided in favor of the champion until it wasn’t. With a grappler at the level of Moicano, if lady luck is on his side he could pull off the unthinkable against the PFP number one fighter in the UFC.
Islam Makhachev is arguably the most well-rounded fighter in the entire UFC, he practically has no holes in his game anymore. In retrospect, Moicano is a tier lower than Charles Olivera in terms of overall skill so if Islam was able to dominate Charles and submit him he should have an easy time with Moicano wherever this fight goes. The story in itself is a reason you should tune in because you could possibly witness something spectacular. Moicano has overcome adversity and had some crazy comebacks during this win streak like his fight against Jalin Turner. He wants this so badly and sometimes it's a matter of will and in the UFC anything can happen at any time.
