Renato Moicano is embracing his heel persona after submitting teammate Chris Duncan by second-round rear naked choke on Saturday night, a victory that snapped his two-fight losing streak.
Moicano has leaned into a new character built around a blunt, money-focused catchphrase, punctuated by lines like, “Moicano wants money” and simply, “Money.”
He says the shift was inspired by some of MMA’s most polarizing talkers. “Two guys that everybody in Brazil hates: Conor McGregor and Chael Sonnen,” Moicano said, explaining who he studied on the microphone.
Moicano recalled how Sonnen’s infamous feud with Anderson Silva hit him as a young fan. “When I was 15 or 16, I looked up to Anderson Silva and Jose Aldo. Chael was talking so much s--t about Anderson Silva that I thought of buying a flight ticket to go to a UFC event just to sucker-punch Chael Sonnen.”
Now, Moicano views Sonnen’s impact very differently. “Now I see him and I’m like, this guy is a fucking genius because, you know, how smart you have to be for a 16-year-old to want to punch you just because of your mic skills.”
Previously competing in relative obscurity in the UFC, Moicano is now openly tying his recent success and rising profile to this outspoken, money-obsessed persona, built on lessons he says he learned from Conor McGregor and Chael Sonnen during their most controversial moments.
