Thanks to a late shuffling of the deck at UFC 271, with Perez vs. Schnell cancelled, and Knight vs. Grishin demoted, Alexander Hernandez and Renato Moicano found themselves boosted up the the main card.
The lightweight pair were both looking to build off recent wins: Hernandez had KO’d Mike Breeden in his last fight, Moicano had submitted Jai Herbert.
Hernandez opened the action Saturday with a crisp leg kick; Moicano, not to be outdone, fired a pair of them. Moicano missed with a right hand, while Hernandez worked some feints. When he did throw, it was Moicano landing a counter. Plenty of action early, and about 90 seconds in, Brazil’s Moicano went hunting for a single leg takedown. He didn’t have it.
Moicano would pursue the takedown a couple more times, finally dragging Hernandez down along the fence. Hernandez was immediately back up, and fought off one subsequent attempt only to be felled on a second. Moicano landed in half-guard, with over two minutes to work. He couldn’t make much happen, however, and Hernandez was able to get back to his feet, and take over in the latter part of the round.
In the second, Hernandez kept circling on the outside, though he did eat an uppercut, then a left hook. Just over a minute in, Moicano caught Hernandez, first with a shoulder shot, then a left and right, hurting him and backing him up the fence. Hernandez started to go down, and Moicano took the back and got the rear-naked choke in. Already rocked, Hernandez didn’t have much left. He tapped, and Moicano had the win!
Following the fight, Moicano implored fans to follow him on social media, and called for some bonus money. “You know what I’d like to see? A big check for [a big] performance,” he exclaimed. Saying that he had kids to support, bills to pay, and a life to live, he told the Houston crowd that “you like big steaks, and I like big checks!”
Official Result: Renato Moicano def. Alexander Hernandez by submission (rear-naked choke), Round 2, 1:23
