Renato Moicano Will Fight Out His UFC Deal — Then Test Free Agency

Renato "Money" Moicano has a plan for the end of his UFC contract: finish it, all of it, and then find out what he is worth on the open market.

Moicano told MMA Fighting he has three fights remaining on his current deal, including Saturday's bout, and he intends to complete them before deciding his next move. The run-out starts in the main event of UFC Vegas 123 (UFC Fight Night 292) on Saturday, when the 37-year-old Brazilian headlines against Tom Nolan at Meta Apex in Las Vegas.

"I want to fight this deal out for sure," Moicano said. "I want to do the whole thing and then let's see what happens. I would like to be a free agent, too. ... Just to see what it's like."

That is curiosity, not a farewell. Moicano was clear that his future will depend partly on how much he is earning in the UFC and how he feels about continuing to compete. When the time comes to renegotiate, the money will have to be right.

"We have to wait and see," he said. "After I fight this fight, fight the next, and I see how I feel and how much money I'm making in the UFC. If the money is good, if it's worth it, nice, let's go. If not, I'll have stuff to take care of me, you know?"

What that "other stuff" looks like is already taking shape. Moicano pointed to a business outside the cage, his YouTube channel, his gym, managing fighters in Brazil, and an MMA show of his own coming up on Dec. 5.

"I have another business, I have this YouTube, I have the gym, I have other stuff that I'm doing. I'm starting to manage some guys in Brazil, too. I have this MMA show going on Dec. 5. So, who knows? I'm not making any plans," he said.

He also floated what life after the deal could hold, in his own open-ended terms: "I would like to be a free agent too, just to see what it's like, in Brazil I'm getting popular so who knows, maybe I can make some money fighting boxing influencers or something like that, doing other stuff than MMA, I'm not too worried... Whoever pays the most money."

None of that is a plan yet, and Moicano said so himself: he is not making plans, and he is not worried. The immediate job has not changed either. The 37-year-old (21-7-1) snapped a two-fight skid — losses to Islam Makhachev and Beneil Dariush — by submitting Chris Duncan in the second round of their UFC Vegas 115 main event in April, and he will look to build on that win against Nolan, 26, who rides a five-fight win streak into his first UFC main event.

First, though, the deal has to be fought out. Saturday is fight one of three.