Renato Moicano calls for a fight with Justin ‘The Highlight’ Gaethje after controversial UFC rankings update

Despite earning the stoppage win over hometown hero Benoit Saint-Denis in the main event of UFC Fight Night: Paris, Renato ‘Money’ Moicano failed to see any improvements in his lightweight ranking.

Whilst the outspoken Brazilian is understandably furious with the lack of movement, ‘Money’ knows that the clock is ticking for him to make the most out of his fantastic career resurgence.

Photo by Chris Unger/Zuffa LLCDana White tries to calm Renato Moicano over lightweight rankings controversyLast weekend’s outstanding stoppage win in enemy territory wasn’t enough for Renato Moicano to enter the Top 10 of the lightweight division, with ‘Money’ only retaining the #11 spot after yesterday’s controversial update.

A few hours later, ‘Money’ would take to social media to vent his frustration at the decision to keep him out of the upper echelon, as he took aim at those fighters ranked #6 through to #10 with vicious intent.

The outburst even prompted UFC CEO Dana White to advise Moicano not to worry as Artificial Intelligence will soon be taking over: “The rankings are definitely a problem, Moicano I agree with you 100%.

“But don’t worry my friend AI will be here soon, and this will all be fixed… We get all these bums that know nothing about fighting out of this sh** and get AI in here and we can fix all of these rankings.”

Yet at 35 years old, Moicano certainly doesn’t have the time to sit around and wait for AI to remedy the situation for him – luckily, he knows exactly what type of ‘highlight’ he needs to add to his resume.

UFC 307: Khalil Rountree Jr teases new technique that ‘the world has never seen before’Renato Moicano calls for a fight with Justin Gaethje in December or JanuaryFollowing his stoppage win at UFC Paris, Renato Moicano would call out British superstar Paddy ‘The Baddy’ Pimblett to coach the next season of The Ultimate Fighter and failing that, a clash with Dan Hooker – whose placement at #5 was labeled as akin to a ‘turtle in a tree’.

Yet as Moicano broke down both the UFC Paris main event and what’s next via the Show Me The Money Podcast, he would throw out a new name as his potential next opponent; should neither Hooker nor Pimblett answer the call – Justin ‘The Highlight’ Gaethje.

“Now, the best thing is that you don’t need to rely on nobody,” Moicano stated in the third person, as he acknowledged that he could be on a rather unique path to a lightweight title shot.

“Sometimes to get a title fight, you need big names like Gaethje or somebody who has fought for the title [but] right now, you just have to keep winning… It doesn’t matter who you fight now, it could be Paddy Pimblett, it could be Dan Hooker, it could be Justin Gaethje, it doesn’t matter.

“One more win, two more wins, doesn’t matter – you’re going to fight for the title because now people start to recognize you,” argued the fan-favorite Brazilian, noting how there are different benefits to facing each of the three lightweight stars.

“To be completely honest with you, Paddy Pimblett is a good fight because he is famous but I would rather fight with him if we do The Ultimate Fighter because that’s going to be funny and a lot of exposure.

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“Other than that, for just a fight I would rather face Justin Gaethje because I think Dan Hooker is not going to get the fight you know… He had the opportunity now to say let’s fight but he’s saying that I dodged him in Perth; that’s not true, they didn’t offer me that fight.”

Despite suffering a particularly grizzly shoulder injury in the lead-up to UFC Paris, Moicano believes that he could make his return to the octagon as soon as December of this year; with ‘The Highlight’ being his next intended target.

“Let’s make the fight for December, I’m telling you that I’m ready for December, [or] January. It doesn’t matter but if Dan Hooker doesn’t want that fight, let’s go with Justin Gaethje.

“I saw Chael Sonnen talking about that and I agree with him, Justin Gaethje would be a good fight – it doesn’t matter brother [who’s next], I’m coming for the gold my brother, I will be f***** champion of this division.”

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Gaethje last fought back in April of this year, suffering a brutal last-second knockout at the hands of Max Holloway – he is currently ranked the #3 best lightweight in the world.

Gaethje, Pimblett, or Hooker, if you held the power to book Moicano’s next fight, who would you want ‘Money’ to face?

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