Mohawk focused before fighting in the UFC. Photo: Reproduction/Facebook/UFC
Renato Moicano opened up. The Brazilian spoke about what he called the domino effect left by Arman Tsarukyan after his withdrawal from the lightweight title fight (up to 70,3 kg) against Islam Makhachev at UFC 311 in January. According to him, Arman's withdrawal even affects the interim title fight between Justin Gaethje and Paddy Pimblett.
Moicano was the guy who took on the last-minute mission, agreeing to face the then-champion Islam Makhachev with only 24 hours left on the clock. He did what he could, but, in his view, the crack that appeared before the fight was avoidable. And, according to the Brazilian, it cost everyone in the division dearly.
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In an interview for the program "Standemup," hosted by Emiel Sardarean, Renato Moicano let loose.
“I don’t think it’s fair. Who did he defeat in the division? When I fought Makhachev, Arman was supposed to fight for the title and ended up ruining the division. If Arman had fought that night, the division would still exist, but now we have Topuria getting divorced and not wanting to fight… They have Gaethje vs. Pimblett, and to me, that’s going to be a sham title. It doesn’t make sense to have an interim belt because Topuria would be the champion anyway,” said the Brazilian.
Specifically, Tsarukyan suffered a back injury the day before UFC 311 , during his weight cut in January, which forced the organization to cancel his highly anticipated title fight. According to Moicano, if Arman had stepped into the octagon, the division's script would have remained intact: champion versus challenger, and the title sequence would continue.
"A sham title," says Renato Moicano about the fight between Gaethje and Pimblett at UFC 324.
The most talked-about consequence of this story came later. Makhachev chose to relinquish the lightweight title to pursue a new gold medal in the welterweight division (up to 77 kg), facing Jack Della Maddalena at UFC 322 in November.
The move paved the way for another unlikely change: Ilia Topuria , who came from the featherweight division (up to 65,7 kg), moved up and knocked out Charles Oliveira at UFC 317 in June, taking the vacant lightweight title and becoming the tenth athlete in history to win titles in two divisions of the company.
But there wasn't time for the dust to settle. At the end of November, Topuria announced a break in the first quarter of 2026 due to personal issues related to her divorce and her routine with her children.
With the top lightweight title temporarily unavailable, the UFC scheduled the interim title fight for the division at UFC 324 on January 24th, between Justin Gaethje and Paddy Pimblett . That's when the debate heated up, and Renato Moicano didn't hold back, calling the fight a "sham title."
UFC 324
UFC 324 will be the first event of the 2026 season, on January 24th. Last Thursday (27), Dana White, UFC president, announced the card. The main fight of the night will be between Justin Gaethje and Paddy Pimblett for the interim lightweight title.
At this same event, Brazilian Amanda Nunes returns from retirement to face Kayla Harrison for the bantamweight title (up to 61,2 kg). The card also features Brazilians Deiveson Figueiredo and Jean Silva . Check out the card below [subject to change]:
Lightweight: Justin Gaethje vs. Paddy Pimblett – Title Fight
Bantamweight: Kayla Harrison vs. Amanda Nunes – Title fight
Bantamweight: Sean O'Malley x Song Yadong
Bantamweight: Umar Nurmagomedov vs. Deiveson Figueiredo
Heavyweight: Waldo Cortes Acosta x Derrick Lewis
Featherweight: Arnold Allen x Jean Silva
Flyweight: Alexa Grasso x Rose Namajunas
Middleweight: Ateba Gautier x Andrey Pulyaev
Light heavyweight: Nikita Krylov x Modestas Bukauskas
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