Renato Moicano blasts Brian Ortega for ruining easy paycheck at UFC 331, cautions

Renato Moicano had to change plans after his scheduled rematch with Brian Ortega fell apart days out from fight night. Instead of competing this Saturday at UFC 331 in Los Angeles, the Brazilian lightweight contender is now slated to return headlining UFC Vegas 123 at the Meta Apex in October against Tom Nolan.

The matchup with Ortega was a rematch of their Fight of the Night battle nearly a decade ago. Moicano won the first two rounds in that 2017 bout, before succumbing to a third-round guillotine choke. On Monday, less than week out from their sequel, Ortega revealed he was withdrawing from the bout after suffering a cut over his eye in training.

Speaking on Tuesday's edition of "The Ariel Helwani Show," Moicano vented his frustrations and confusion about the injury.

"How the f*** you hurt yourself a week before the fight?" Moicano told Uncrowned. "Maybe he was trying to push too hard. This is just like somebody who didn't study too much for the test, and he wants to learn [everything] on the last day.

"I'm not saying he was looking for a way out, but if you went too hard in training or were sparring a week before, I don't think that's a good idea. I don’t think this is smart. But sometimes that happens. It happened to Charles [Oliveira] too, and people talk a lot of s*** about this."

For Ortega, the fight was supposed to represent his official move up to lightweight after spending nearly his entire career at 145 pounds. But recent results haven't been in Ortega's favor, leading Moicano to believe the two-time featherweight title challenger may be battling mental hurdles and “not in a good place mentally.”

"Right now he probably is in a bad position, coming off four losses in his last five fights," Moicano said. "Two years without fighting, and fighting in his hometown against a guy that he beat once. I would not want to be walking in his shoes right now."

Moicano, meanwhile, returned to the win column with a much-needed main-event win over Chris Duncan in April at UFC Vegas 115. The second-round neck-crank submission snapped Moicano's two-fight skid, keeping him relevant in the UFC’s top 15 at lightweight.

Initially Moicano could have stayed on Saturday's UFC 331 card or been rebooked against Ortega in November, he said, but after learning about Ortega's second withdrawal from their matchup in 2026 — the pair were previously booked to rematch at UFC 326 in March; Ortega withdrew from that fight as well — Moicano opted to rest and reset.

"[UFC CBO Hunter Campbell] called me and said, 'Ortega's out. What do you want to do?'" Moicano said. "I thought maybe I can be on the card, but I'd maybe I'll have to face somebody who doesn't have a name, because nobody with a name that was favorable was going to take that fight on a week's notice.

"So I called Hunter and said, 'Hey, I don't really want to fight anybody else on Saturday. Let's try to find somebody on UFC [Vegas 123]. I think that would be nice.' Then he said, 'Tom Nolan.' And I said, 'OK. Tom Nolan, let's go, UFC, Oct. 31.'"

“Do you want me to wait for a guy who … withdrew two times [against me]?” Moicano continued. “My wife is pregnant, I have a lot of stuff to do, I have an MMA show in November. So I’m going to put everything aside, train for two or three more months, and then try to fight the same guy that withdrew two times? I don’t think that’s logical. The first time is OK. The second time is no deal for me. I don’t want anything to do with Ortega, and if you’re a fighter, you’re fighting Ortega, be ready to fighting somebody else.”

In terms of name value, Ortega has an undeniably higher profile than the rising prospect Nolan. And Moicano is well aware of the danger that comes with his new matchup.

But “Money” Moicano is also all about the money, as he lets the world know before and after every fight. So he was admittedly upset to lose his shot at redemption and what he believes was a significantly easier payday.

"Brian Ortega, I think that would be an easy fight, to be honest. Easy paycheck, money in my f***ing pockets. Tom Nolan will be harder, but it is what it is," Moicano said.