Rafael Dos Anjos will fight in the co-main event of the evening at UFC 272 on Saturday night as he gets a late-replacement opponent.
Renato Moicano has stepped in to face Dos Anjos on just four days notice at a catchweight of 160 pounds and the fight will be set at five rounds. The fight has been verbally agreed to and contracts will be issued as soon as possible. News of the booking was first reported by MMA Fighting.
Dos Anjos (30-13) was set to face Rafael Fiziev at UFC 272 but Fiziev tested positive for COVID upon arriving in Las Vegas and was forced to withdraw from the bout.
Moicano (16-4) returns to action just weeks removed from a submission victory over Alex Hernandez at UFC 271.
Many names were thrown around as possible replacements with Islam Makhachev being one of the more intriguing options. Makhachev tweeted that he was willing to face Dos Anjos at 170-pounds. Dos Anjos accepted on twitter, but then tweeted this not long after.
I called his bluff and he folded. Let’s move on…
— Rafael dos Anjos (@RdosAnjosMMA) March 1, 2022
In steps in Moicano who currently rides a two fight win streak into UFC 272.
UFC 272 will be headlined by a welterweight bout between bitter rivals and former teammates Colby Covington and Jorge Masvidal at the T-Mobile Arena on Saturday night in Las Vegas. The card currently includes the following match-ups:
- Colby Covington vs. Jorge Masvidal
- Rafael dos Anjos vs. Renato Moicano
- Edson Barboza vs. Bryce Mitchell
- Kevin Holland vs. Alex Oliveira
- Sergey Spivak vs. Greg Hardy
- Marina Rodriguez vs. Yan Xiaonan
- Maryna Moroz vs. Mariya Agapova
- Jalin Turner vs. Jamie Mullarkey
- Nicolae Negumereanu vs. Kennedy Nzechukwu
- Tim Elliott vs. Tagir Ulanbekov
- Brian Kelleher vs. Umar Nurmagomedov
- Michał Oleksiejczuk vs. Dustin Jacoby
- Devonte Smith vs. Ludovit Klein
