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Renato Moicano loves to steal the show in the cage and do the same afterward when there’s a microphone in front of his face.

The Brazilian dubbed himself “Money Moicano” in a very memorable post-fight interview following his previous fight, and he delivered another unforgettable promo after his latest win over Drew Dober in the UFC Vegas 85 co-main event.

Before UFC color commentator Daniel Cormier could even ask a question, Moicano revealed that he had just become a brother again, celebrating his father having another baby the day before his fight on Saturday.

“My father is 62 years old, and he had a baby yesterday,” Moicano shouted. “I’m telling him tomorrow when I get home, I’m going to get my wife pregnant another time. Because if my f****** father, 62 years old can populate the world, I can too! ‘Money Moicano’ [the third] is coming.”

If that wasn’t enough, Moicano then turned his attention to a future beyond fighting, voicing his desire to help clean up the streets in the U.S.

Moicano currently calls Florida home, training at American Top Team in Coconut Creek. It appears he’s determined to earn citizenship and hopes he’ll eventually join law enforcement once his UFC career is over.

“I love f****** America,” Moicano said. “I’m not American but I will be. My green card is three years, in two years I will be a f****** American. After I’m done with fighting, I will serve as a police officer.

“I want to be on the SWAT team, and I want to f****** kill the bad guys. Make no mistake, there is right, and there is f****** wrong and people are forgetting about that. People are going crazy!

“So that’s why I want more kids, I want people to go to church, I want people to respect the f****** law, because otherwise the greatest country in the world is going to be a third world country. I don’t want that motherf******. Something is wrong in America, and I want motherf****** to fix it right now!.”

After paying homage to his virile father and proclaiming that he wants to take out the bad guys in America, Moicano finally turned his attention back to fighting and his win over Dober. He first blasted an online personality who picked against him in the fight, but then he gave Dober credit as one of the most dangerous men in the UFC.

“I am one of the biggest Drew Dober fans,” Moicano said. “When I was at [145 pounds], I saw that guy knocking other people out and I said ‘I’m glad I’m not at [155]. Today, I just beat the motherf*****. Huge, mad respect for Drew Dober.”

Moicano didn’t get to appear at the post-fight press conference, requiring a trip to a local hospital in Las Vegas to get stitches for a nasty cut that opened after an accident clash of heads in his fight.

Instead, he just went live on his own YouTube channel and continued talking and engaging with fans. He then returned to social media as he awaited treatment in the hospital and even managed to post a photo with Dober following their three-round war.

He also responded to Conor McGregor on Twitter after the Irish superstar offered a word of congratulations to the senior Mr. Moicano as he welcomed another baby.

Moicano also finally got around to what comes next, suggesting a matchup against Beneil Dariush when the UFC returns to Brazil in May.

“Beneil Dariush, see you in Brazil,” Moicano wrote. “If you support ‘Merica, retweet this s*** and tag UFC motherf******.”

MMA Fighting – All Posts

Bellator middleweight champion and teammate of Dustin Poirier discusses the ‘The Diamonds’ recent contractual issues. 

Fans were thrilled, if not a little surprised when the UFC announced that they had made a fight between No.3 Dustin Poirier and No.11 Benoit Saint Dennis. Poirier is a future hall of famer and was potentially expected to take a higher profile fight, rather than taking on the dangerous Frenchman who has had just six UFC fights. 

However, the mouth-watering affair was temporarily off after Poirier had tweeted that the fight was off and in fact was never officially signed in the first place. And just a short time later Poirier announced that it was just a ‘misunderstanding’ and everything seemed to be resolved. 

Dustin Poirier’s teammate delves into UFC 299 fall out

Teammate of Poirier, Eblen spoke with SHAK MMA and discussed the situation, revealing the UFC did not meet Poirier’s terms despite the American agreeing to the idea of the fight.

“I know Dustin pretty well, and I actually spoke with him about it today,”  Johnny Eblen began. “They just didn’t come to terms, man. The things that Dustin laid out for them that they need to provide for this fight they were not willing to do it.” 

“I just think it’s kind of horse s*** because I know how much money the UFC makes and they could make that fight happen but they’re choosing not to because they’re being stingy in a way. The fact that no contract was signed and they were willing to f****** announce it is f****** beyond me, man. That’s never happened to me. Not even a verbal agreement, Dustin said.

“Dustin said, ‘Yeah, that sounds good, but like, we gotta get this deal worked out. That’s not a verbal agreement, Eblen continued. A verbal agreement’s like, ‘Hey, if you do this, this, and this, I’m in,’ and they’re like, ‘Okay, we’ll do this, this, and this.’ Okay, cool, I’ll fight him. Then you do the contract and you sign the contract. There wasn’t even a verbal agreement on his end. It’s kind of crazy to me that they were willing to even promote it to this degree and then let it backfire like this.”

Who wins, Dustin Poirier or Benoit Saint-Denis?

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MMA: Mixed Martial Arts

Nassourdine Imavov picked up a win on Saturday that was memorable in more ways than one.

For the most part, the French middleweight out-struck and outworked Roman Dolidze over five rounds in the UFC Vegas 85 main event, but a screwy foul – and an even screwier score on one judge’s card – had the fighters watching at home a little confused with what they were seeing.

In Round 4, Imavov landed an illegal kick on Dolidze, a situation that was caused by Dolidze keeping one hand on the mat to maintain his grounded status and make himself an ineligible target. Imavov was docked a point, a decision that had some questioning whether the rule was being enforced correctly. Further discussion was stirred when one judge scored the fight 47-47, which felt wrong given the overall strength of Imavov’s performance.

Aside from the main event, fighters were chattering about Renato Moicano’s latest post-fight victory speech, which covered a number of topics including his 62-year-old father recently having another child and his desire to become a SWAT team member in the U.S.

See the best reactions from social media below.

Nassourdine Imavov def. Roman Dolidze

Renato Moicano def. Drew Dober, delivers another wild speech

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MMA Fighting – All Posts

Saturday’s UFC Vegas 85 fight card was headlined by a middleweight bout between ninth-ranked Roman Dolidze and eleventh-ranked Nassourdine Imavov. 

Dolidze had a four-fight winning streak snapped in his last outing losing to Marvin Vettori via unanimous decision last March. Imavov had a rough 2023, losing to Sean Strickland and having a no contest against Chris Curtis after an accidental clash of heads in his last fight.

Dolidze landed leg kicks in the early going while Imavov responded with leg kicks.  Imavov inched forward and landed a combination.  Dolidze quickly clinched.  Imavov connected with an elbow as the two battled for positing in the clinch.  They separated and began exchanging.  

Dolidze pressed forward with a combination.  Imavov answered with a right hand.  Imavov connected with a right hand that hurt Dolidze.  He landed another right hand that sent Dolidze to the canvas.  Imavov worked hard for the finish.  He took Dolidze’s back and hammered away with right hands.  Imavov worked to secure an arm bar but the bell saved Dolidze.  The first round definitely went to Imavov.    

Imavov landed a left hand to start the second frame.  Dolidze connected with a right hand.  He clinched delivered knees to the legs of Imavov.  With two minutes remaining, Imavov turned Dolidze and the two separated.  Dolidze landed a leg kick and Imavov countered with a right hand.  Dolidze ties Imavov up.  Referee Herb Dean separated the fighters with 20 seconds left. 

Once separated, both me threw and connected with heavy leather.  Dolidze likely won the round with control.  

They exchanged leg kicks to start the third.  Imavov delivered front leg kicks and Dolidze quickly clinched.  Imavov created enough space to connect with a head kick.  Dolidze steps into the pocket with a stiff jab.  Dolidze closed this distance but ate a right hand in the process.  They separated and Imavov connected with a massive right hand.

Dolidze again tied Imavov up.  They battled for position inside the clinch with Dolidze pressing Imavov against the cage.  They separated.  A right hand by Imavov found its mark but Dolidze was able to take it.  The referee separated with 30 seconds remaining in the round.  Dolidze connected with a spinning back kick to the body.  Imavov was clearly winning when they were at distance.  Dolidze clinches but didn’t do anything with the position.  

Dolidze came out with a furious pace before clinching at the start of the fourth.  Imavov is able to get behind Dolidze in the clinch.  He connected with a head kick and dropped Dolidze.  The kick connected while Dolidze’s hand was on the canvas.  Dolidze remained on the canvas for some time before making his way to a neutral corner.  After two minutes, he resumed after Imavov was deducted a point.  

Dolidze connected with a combination.  It looked like Dolidze pulled guard.  The two scramble and Dolidze gained top position midway through the round.  Imavov worked his way to the fence and used it to stand.  Dolidze kept the pressure on.  Imavov separated with a minute remaining and the two slugged it out for a few seconds.  Imavov clinched and the round ended with the two men against the cage.  

With the point deduction, who knows where the scorecards stand. Dolidze came out aggressive but ended up clinching.  Dolidze worked to get the fight to the ground but Imavov had none of it.  He remained standing but was still in the clinch with his back against the cage.  Referee Herb Dean separated them with two minutes remaining.  

Dolidze connected with a right hand.  Imavov threw a right hand and Dolidze ducked under and clinched.  They separated with one minute remaining in the round.  Imavov stuffed a takedown attempt and connected with a left hand.  He stood over Dolidze and made him stand with seconds left in the frame.  The round ended with the fight going the distance.  

The judges scored the fight for Imavov via majority decision.  The scorecards read 49-44, 47-47, and 48-46.  With the win, Imavov will crack the Top 10 middleweight rankings.

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MMA: Mixed Martial Arts

Nassourdine Imavov definitely deserved his win in the UFC Vegas 85 main event but it didn’t come without a fair share of controversy.

After nearly scoring a first-round finish to start the fight, Imavov remained the superior striker over all five rounds but a head kick that landed when Roman Dolidze still had his hand on the canvas nearly cost him the fight. Referee Herb Dean immediately paused the action but as he tended to Dolidze in the cage, Imavov turned his attention to Chris Curtis in the corner as the former opponents started jawing at each other.

That forced Dean to drag Imavov back across the cage and threaten to disqualify him before cooler heads prevailed. Dean took a point away for the illegal strike, which only further complicated the scoring but the end result was still the same with Imavov getting the nod.

The final scorecards read 49-44, 48-46 and 47-47, which results in majority decision victory for Imavov. Afterwards, he addressed his war of words with Curtis as he also referenced their fight, which ended in a no contest following an accidental clash of heads at UFC 289.

“He talks too much,” Imavov said about Curtis. “When he was in the cage with me, he didn’t do anything. He complained about a head butt and he couldn’t fight anymore. If you want to fight, it’s in the cage. Outside the cage, shut up.

“Huge respect to Roman Dolidze because he got head kicked and he kept fighting. Chris Curtis wouldn’t have done that and Dolidze is the man.”

All the bad blood aside, Imavov put on a largely memorable performance while Dolidze just couldn’t get much going during the five round fight.

Displaying laser accuracy with his striking, Imavov just kept aiming and firing at Dolidze, who was stuck trying to close the distance and looking for the clinch to slow the action down. With his opponent backing up against the cage, Imavov unleashed a vicious combination capped off with a well-placed uppercut followed by a knee that put Dolidze down on the canvas.

Imavov followed him to the ground where he began hammering away with punches looking for the finish but Dolidze kept moving and scrambling enough to prevent the referee from stopping the fight.

Following a rough first round, Dolidze once again turned to his clinch game to slow things down with Imavov not moving with nearly as much urgency. Still whenever Imavov broke free from Dolidze’s grip, he unleashed punches in succession and he was still connecting with much better power and accuracy.

In nearly every exchange on the feet, Imavov continuously tagged Dolidze with his combinations and it appeared he was always just one shot away from scoring the knockout. Dolidze countered with his grappling but he just couldn’t drag Imavov to the canvas.

Whenever he found separation, Imavov’s right hand was on a rope with direct connection to Dolidze’s chin and he just couldn’t get out of the way. Still, Dolidze somehow stayed alive and forced Imavov back into the clinch again and again to prevent absorbing further damage.

As the fight moved into the fourth round, Dolidze had his hand down on the canvas with Imavov on his back when the France-based middleweight threw a vicious kick to the head. Dolidze crumbled to the canvas but the kick was deemed illegal because his hand was down when the foot connected with his head.

Dean paused the action and then threatened to disqualify Imavov as he argued with Dolidze’s coaches in the corner — in particular taking aim at Curtis. Once Dolidze recovered, Dean penalized Imavov with a point deduction for the illegal kick as the fight resumed.

With five minutes remaining, Dolidze knew he needed a finish to ensure victory but it was clear both fighters were exhausted. The resulted in a grueling pace with some sloppy exchanges until the fight came to a close but it was still enough for Imavov to get the win.

Now 4-1 with one no contest in his past six fights, Imavov remains a tough out for anybody in the middleweight division and now he wants to avenge the most recent loss on his resume.

“Regarding my performance and my next fight, I want to fight against Sean Strickland,” Imavov said.

Imavov lost a decision to Strickland in a light heavyweight bout back in January 2023 and he would love nothing more than to run that back, although it’s entirely possible he might see Curtis instead given the way those two were going after each other on Saturday night.

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