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Renato Moicano has long targeted a future fight against Paddy Pimblett, not only because it’s a very marketable matchup, but also one he’s very confident he’d win.
But did his position change at all after watching Pimblett tear through King Green after demolishing the veteran lightweight inside the first round when they met back at UFC 304 in July?
“I am very impressed,” Moicano said about Pimblett when speaking to MMA Fighting. “I think after the Bobby Green fight, I think Paddy Pimblett is a tougher matchup than Dan Hooker.
“Back in the day, I would be crazy to say that but right now we saw what Dan Hooker did [with] Mateusz Gamrot. He got caught many, many times in the first round. It was a close fight. I don’t think he did win, but you see the way Paddy Pimblett finished Bobby Green, and Bobby Green is not an easy guy to submit. The way he did so, props to Paddy Pimblett.”
Moicano openly admits that he thought Pimblett was more hype than reality, but the way he beat Green definitely got the Brazilian’s attention.
“I was one of the doubters,” Moicano said. “But he did great, he did a great job against Bobby Green. He deserves some respect. Not much but some respect.”
At UFC Paris, Moicano headlines a UFC event for the second time in his career with hopes to build on his three-fight win streak when he faces Benoit Saint Denis in the main event.
On paper, Moicano is actually taking a step backwards accepting a fight against Saint Denis, who is behind him in the UFC’s official rankings, but none of that matters much to him.
It’s similar to his interest in the fight against Pimblett because Moicano understands the number next to somebody’s name doesn’t automatically give that person more attention or credibility with fans. Instead, Moicano prefers fights that operate under the brightest spotlight and right now at lightweight, Pimblett might just be one of the biggest matchups available for anybody not named Conor McGregor.
“Rankings doesn’t matter,” Moicano said. “It doesn’t really matter. Because if rankings did matter, I would not fight Benoit Saint Denis. Because there is no point that I’m fighting backwards. The only point that I’m fighting Benoit Saint Denis is because he’s a tough opponent and that fight’s going to give me a lot of exposure.
“In this sport, as in outside the sport, you need exposure. You need people to want to watch you. You need people to want to see what is going on. I like this guy, I’m going to follow him on social media, I’m going to buy his stuff, I’m going to support him. That’s what moves, not only the sport but every marketplace. Of course, Paddy Pimblett is a fight I think that would be awesome. I think that would be great. That would be nice.”
Moicano knows that name value carries more weight than rankings when it comes to the UFC, which is why he never gets lost in those numbers when he gets a fight offer.
“We see some guys in the top 15 that people don’t even know them,” Moicano said. “It doesn’t f*cking matter. People don’t know rankings. People know personalities. They know people that they can relate to. This guy is real, he’s talking stuff that I like. Some people are funny. People are different. Some people like to follow different people so I don’t care too much about the rankings.
“Because UFC doesn’t make decisions based on rankings. They make decisions based on popularity and how much money they can make off a fight. We’ve seen that over and over.”
As much as he doesn’t want to single out anybody in particular, Moicano used a veteran lightweight as an example of somebody who has a number next to their name but doesn’t really move needle when it comes to drumming up interest in a fight.
“I don’t want to talk too much shit because I don’t have nothing against the guy,” Moicano said. “I think he’s a great human being. I think he’s a good fighter but he’s not in his prime anymore — Beneil Dariush, he’s still ranked and if I could choose to fight Beneil Dariush or fight Benoit Saint Denis or even Paddy Pimblett, or sometimes even Bobby Green — I would choose somebody else at the moment.
“Because it’s all about the moment that you are right now, how people are perceiving you, perceiving your career and some guys are maybe up in the rankings, they are in a good position for the rankings, but as far as popularity, they are not.”
So based solely on rankings, Moicano wouldn’t move up as much beating Pimblett but he couldn’t care less about those numbers.
Pimblett has transformed himself into one of the most talked-about fighters on the entire UFC roster and that’s what gets Moicano’s attention.
“100 percent, I would be willing to fight Paddy Pimblett,” Moicano said. “I think Paddy Pimblett will be a great fight. But let’s see Sept. 28, and then I will talk some shit.”