Moicano: Ortega vs Hooker Is "The Worst Fight in the UFC"
“This is gonna be the worst fight in the UFC,”
Renato Moicano does not like the UFC's latest lightweight booking — and he said so in the bluntest terms available to him.
Brian Ortega and Dan Hooker will meet at UFC Qatar on Nov. 21 at ABHA Arena in Doha, with Ortega making his UFC lightweight debut. Moicano, asked about the matchup by Full Send MMA, called it "the worst fight in the UFC."
"This is gonna be the worst fight in the UFC," Moicano said. "Brian Ortega vs. Dan Hooker, that's f*cked up. I don't know how the UFC made that fight. But let's see, let's wait and see how they do. And let's see how I beat Tom Nolan."
That last line is the context for the outburst. Moicano's frustration is personal, not abstract. He has called out Hooker repeatedly, and those calls have not produced a matchup. And he has twice had a rematch with Ortega canceled: Ortega withdrew from their scheduled rematch at UFC 326 because of lingering injuries, and after they were rebooked for UFC 331 in September, Ortega withdrew again after suffering a severe cut above his eye. Bloody Elbow described that second withdrawal as following a freak accident last month.
Ortega already holds a win over Moicano, submitting him with a third-round guillotine choke in their featherweight bout in 2017. Ortega is 16-5 with one no contest; Moicano is 21-7-1; Hooker is 24-15.
Moicano says he remains open to facing either man. But his immediate focus is his own fight: he headlines UFC Vegas 123 against Tom Nolan on Saturday.
None of this makes Ortega vs. Hooker a bad fight. That is Moicano's opinion, delivered by a fighter who wanted both men himself and got neither. The booking stands regardless: Ortega's lightweight debut, against Hooker, in Doha on Nov. 21. Moicano will be watching — after he has handled his own main event first.
