Renato Moicano (Bleacher Report)
Renato Moicano was beaten fair and square by Rafael dos Anjos, but it was his courage and heart that stood out
Renato Moicano displayed the heart of a warrior in an all-Brazilian battle with veteran Rafael dos Anjos.
Stepping in on short notice for the ill Rafael Fiziev, Moicano looked confident as he stepped inside the cage. He was coming off a submission win over Alexander Hernandez at UFC 271.
But, Dos Anjos was just too strong for his Brazilian counterpart. The former lightweight champion dominated Moicano on the ground and went on to hand him a bad beating in the third round – the fight was nearly stopped, and a large chunk of the MMA community felt the same as well.
A dazed and battered Moicano returned to his corner.
The Brazilian’s corner came under scrutiny as well. Many felt that they should have stopped the fight rather than persuading him to carry on fighting.
Moicano carried on. Despite having no hope of a comeback he came up big in the last few minutes of the final round.
Dos Anjos won the fight via. unanimous decision.
Here is how MMA Twitter reacted to the same:
Rafael dos Anjos ruled the lightweight division for a while during the mid-2010s. After having beaten Anthony Pettis to win the lightweight, dos Anjos defended his lightweight title once before losing to Eddie Alvarez.
However, he hung on to relevance in the division, and is still close to being a top-ranked LW contender.
The 37-year old might still push for the lightweight one more time.
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