Renato Moicano has won four fights in a row for the first time in his UFC career. Headlining UFC Paris couldn’t have been better for the Brazilian as he put a beating on Benoit Saint-Denis in front of the latter’s home crowd and gave an entertaining post-fight interview yet again.
Moicano has emerged as an anti-hero in the UFC lightweight division. He disses fellow fighters and the crowds but the “Money Moicano” gimmick has sat extremely well with the fans.
Moicano is arguably at his career best in terms of momentum and popularity right now. According to Chael Sonnen, Justin Gaethje is the ideal next opponent for the American Top Team fighter…
Chael Sonnen Explains How Justin Gaethje Could Make Renato Moicano A UFC Star
Sonnen discussed Moicano’s next UFC opponent on his YouTube channel recently. Although the UFC Paris winner called out the likes of Dan Hooker and Paddy Pimblett in his post-fight interview, “The American Gangster” has many reasons to believe that Gaethje is a better matchup.
“Moicano’s next fight is Justin Gaethje. Now, that is exactly what my response would be. For me, that’s like glaringly obvious.”
For starters, Gaethje is coming off a loss but he’s still one of the biggest draws in the promotion. The fight with Moicano gives the former title challenger hope to restart his run while for the Brazilian, it is a great opportunity to make himself known to as many mainstream fans as possible.
“If you got over on Dustin Poirier, you could then do anything. Fight for titles, main events, there’d be no argument that you couldn’t fit nicely into. And, Justin Gaethje brings those same accolades but there’s one difference which is you don’t have to be as careful with the bookings of Gaethje because he is not a in a situation where he’s saying my next one is my final.”
With a win over Gaethje, Moicano will have a name big enough to headline most of his events and even fight for the title. Sonnen’s thought process here isn’t new, to be fair. The UFC usually pits rising stars against veterans to build new names.
This is where Moicano’s age comes in, though. He’s not a prospect and in fact, has been in the UFC for over ten years. At 35, he’s likely on his final title run at lightweight and would want the biggest matchups out there.
According to Sonnen, Gaethje makes more sense than Poirier because “The Diamond” is adamant about retiring after his next fight and he might be hesitant to agree to Moicano who’s yet to become a top draw.
Sonnen also declined Pimblett as a potential opponent for Moicano because they both portray a likable heel personality. Instead of booking them against each other and derailing at least one hype train, the UFC would want to build them both and capitalize on a much bigger fight later on.
