MMA
Renato Moicano rips Brian Ortega for UFC 331 withdrawal
Published
1 month agoon
“Money†Moicano is frustrated with Brian
Ortega for pulling out of their matchup.
Moicano (21-7) was scheduled to welcome Ortega (16-5) to the
Ultimate Fighting Championship lightweight division at UFC
331 on Sept. 19 at Crypto.com Arena in Los Angeles. However,
the matchup fell through five days before fight night after Ortega
suffered a cut above his eye in training, which required
stitches.
Moicano, who now has a new assignment for a later date, recently
addressed Ortega's pull-out.
Renato Moicano unloads on Brian Ortega after their UFC 331
fight falls apart
Moicano will now fight surging prospect Tom Nolan
(11-1) in the main event of a
Fight Night on Oct. 31 at Meta Apex in Las Vegas. The Brazilian
recently went off on Ortega for pulling out of the matchup,
revealing that he's frustrated as he missed out on what he viewed
as a favorable matchup.
“Ortega chickened out,†Moicano said on his YouTube channel.
“Something I never expected whatsoever. Quite simply, the easiest
fight in the division just slipped right through my fingers. And I
was pissed, I was angry, but there's nothing I can do about it. If
you're watching this video, it's because I'm not going to fight at
UFC 331, unfortunately, because of this son of a b*tch, because of
this guy who's always pulling out.â€
Ortega has previously pulled out of a matchup against Moicano
scheduled for this past March. The latter further notes that the
former featherweight title challenger also missed weight for his
last fight against Aljamain
Sterling last year.
Moicano believes Ortega has lost all credibility after pulling out
of consecutive fights and claims that “T-City†blamed his breakup
with fellow UFC fighter Tracy
Cortez for missing weight against Sterling.
“Nobody is ever going to trust you again,†Moicano added. “Who's
going to want to fight Brian Ortega? He already missed weight
against Sterling; he's had all kinds of problems. I didn't want to
bring these personal things up here, but in interviews he said it
was Tracy Cortez's fault, that Tracy Cortez was making his life
miserable, that he was having problems because of that. And now,
over the last two years, over the last three years, what's the
problem? I'm asking, but I want you to go f*ck yourself. I don't
even want to know.â€
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Alex Pereira says Josh Hokit would be much easier fight than Sergei Pavlovich
Published
18 hours agoon
October 25, 2026
Pereira has explained his frustration with the
Ultimate Fighting Championship's heavyweight matchmaking.
Pereira (13-4) is scheduled to face Sergei
Pavlovich (21-3) at UFC
335 on Dec. 12 at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas. Meanwhile,
Josh
Hokit (10-0) will face Ciryl Gane
(14-2) for the heavyweight title at UFC
334 on Nov. 14 at Madison Square Garden in New York.
Pereira said he initially expected either a rematch with Gane or a
grudge match against Hokit, but he sees the Pavlovich booking as a
favorable stylistic matchup.
Alex Pereira explains UFC matchmaking frustration and why
Sergei Pavlovich is more dangerous than Josh Hokit
Pereira lost his UFC heavyweight debut to Gane by technical
knockout in an interim title bout at
UFC Freedom 250. After Tom
Aspinall relinquished the undisputed championship, Pereira said
the promotion discussed a title rematch with Gane or a fight
against Hokit, who has repeatedly criticized “Poatan.â€
Pereira considers Hokit an easier opponent than Pavlovich.
Nevertheless, he said a conversation with UFC executive Hunter
Campbell resolved his frustration, and he now looks forward to the
December bout.
“What got me more upset at that time was because they told me that
I was possibly going to fight Gane for the belt or fight Hokit,â€
Pereira told Ariel Helwani. “And then none of that happened. Coming
from a loss, fighting Hokit would be much, much easier for me than
fighting Pavlovich, who’s supposed to be a harder fight. Hokit
would be a much easier fight for me. We got together [with Hunter
Campbell], we talked, we straightened things out, so it was fine.
Pavlovich is a little more dangerous opponent, but looking at it in
a technical way today, I see that it’s actually also a very good
fight for me.â€
Alex
Pereira reveals what upset him about the UFC’s decision not to
book him against Ciryl Gane
or Josh
Hokit: “What got me more upset at that time was because they
told me that I was possibly going to fight Gane for the belt or
fight Hokit. And then none of that happened. Coming from a loss,
fighting Hokit would be much, much easier for me than fighting
Pavlovich, who’s supposed to be a harder fight. Hokit would be a
much easier fight for me. We got together [with Hunter Campbell],
we talked, we straightened things out, so it was fine. Pavlovich is
a little more dangerous opponent, but looking at it in a technical
way today, I see that it’s actually also a very good fight for
me.â€â€” Ariel Helwani (@arielhelwani)
October 21, 2026
MMA
Islam Makhachev reveals why he turned down January fight with Carlos Prates
Published
19 hours agoon
October 25, 2026
Islam Makhachev has spoken up about why he's not fighting Carlos Prates in January.
For the last few weeks, the MMA world has been flooded with rumors that Makhachev would defend his welterweight title against Prates at UFC 336 in January; however, on Saturday, the UFC announced that those rumors are untrue. Instead, Prates will take on Michael Morales for an interim welterweight title at UFC 336, with the winner unifying against Makhachev sometime next year.
“Prates and Morales will fight, determine who a true worthy contender, and I will fight [the winner]. They will [fight] among themselves. …
“They offered me a fight with Prates, who recently lost to a [Ian Machado Garry] who I beat. If I beat him, Morales would already be next in line, who's not fighting and waiting for [a title shot]. Just let them fight and we will figure out who is the real challenger.â€
Ramadan begins on Feb. 7 and concludes on March 8 in 2027, meaning it is unlikely we will see Makhachev again until next summer.
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