Moicano plans MMA retirement after three fights, eyes influencer boxing move

Renato Moicano has announced he plans to walk away from MMA after completing the three fights remaining on his UFC contract, telling Ariel Helwani he has no desire to extend his career beyond that point. The Brazilian lightweight, who holds a 21-8-1 professional record, also revealed he intends to pursue influencer boxing once his UFC obligations are fulfilled.

“To be completely honest with you, I want to finish my contract, and once I finish my contract, I don’t want to fight MMA anymore,” Moicano said. “I want to do boxing, like influencer boxing. I want to beat up people that don’t know how to fight. Like this Adin Ross show.”

Moicano was candid about his reasons for setting a firm endpoint, pointing to the cautionary example of Tony Ferguson, who departed the UFC following eight consecutive defeats. “I don’t want to be like Tony Ferguson — eight fights, trying to be a champion, 40 years old, on a six-fight losing streak. I don’t want that,” he said. “Sometimes you have to realize when you’re done. You have to realize how much gas you have left in the tank, how much love for the sport you have. For me, it’s these three more fights.”

He also expressed scepticism that the UFC would offer terms compelling enough to change his mind. “I think after these three I’m done because [the UFC] is not gonna pay me enough,” Moicano added.

The timing of the announcement comes off the back of a difficult run of results. Moicano has lost three of his last four bouts, most recently suffering a stoppage defeat to Tom Nolan in the main event of UFC Vegas 123 on 31 October at the Apex in Las Vegas. That loss underscored the dip in form that appears to have shaped his thinking about the future.

At 32, Moicano is not at the twilight of his athletic life by conventional standards, but his comments suggest a fighter who is clear-eyed about his own motivations and unwilling to grind through a contract extension for diminishing returns.