Renato Moicano vs. Brian Ortega re-booked for UFC 331
Renato Moicano will get his rematch with Brian Ortega at UFC 331 on Sept. 19 at Crypto.com Arena in Los Angeles, MMA Mania reports.
The two first met at UFC 214 in 2017, when Ortega rallied from behind to catch Moicano in a third-round guillotine choke despite trailing on the cards. The finish handed the Brazilian his first professional loss and earned Fight of the Night honors. UFC tried to book the rematch earlier this year for UFC 326, but Ortega pulled out for undisclosed reasons.
Moicano demands Ortega's head after UFC Vegas 115 win
Moicano snapped a two-fight skid in April by submitting Chris Duncan at UFC Vegas 115. The win followed a decision loss to Beneil Dariush and a title fight defeat to Islam Makhachev. After the Duncan finish, he called for Ortega. "There is one guy I have bad blood with, and his name is Brian Ortega," Moicano said, per MMA Mania. "He ran the first time. I was beating him the first time, but he got me, okay, fair enough. But now I want revenge. I want his head."
Ortega moves to lightweight after spending his entire UFC run at featherweight. The 35-year-old has dropped two straight, most recently a decision to Aljamain Sterling at UFC Shanghai last August. Before that fight, Ortega fainted during his weight cut, was hospitalized and later revealed he slipped into a coma for roughly 30 minutes. He went on to compete anyway. Now cutting to 155 instead of 145, Ortega will try to end his skid and salvage what remains of his career.
UFC 331 is expected to be headlined by a rematch between Charles Oliveira and Arman Tsarukyan, with Moicano-Ortega slotted underneath.
Photo: MMAnytt / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 3.0
Original reporting:
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