Renato Moicano and Tom Nolan meet in a five-round, non-title lightweight main event at UFC Vegas 123.
The Story
The UFC returns to Las Vegas for UFC Fight Night action headlined by Renato Moicano vs. Tom Nolan in a five-round, non-title lightweight bout.
Moicano enters the main event with a 21-7-1 MMA record and a 13-7 UFC mark, and he is aiming to build on recent Octagon momentum by earning back-to-back wins. The former UFC lightweight title challenger most recently submitted Chris Duncan in April by rear-naked choke, snapping a two-fight losing skid. The skid included a loss to current UFC welterweight champion Islam Makhachev in Makhachev’s final lightweight fight at UFC 311 in Inglewood, California. Moicano said he cannot afford to lose either.
In contract talks, Moicano told reporters this week, “I'm 37,” adding, “Soon, I'm about to be 38. I'm not fighting until I'm 40. Maybe I fight out my contract and that's it. Maybe not. I don't know. I love UFC. I want to be in the UFC. To fight [out] this contract and then get a new contract would have to be very good money. Let's wait and see.” He also said of his opponent, “Tom Nolan is not easy. He's a good striker, good grappler, well-rounded. I just think I'm better than him.”
Nolan counters with an 11-1 MMA record and a 5-1 UFC record, and he comes in on a five-fight winning streak dating back to May 2024. Two of his five UFC victories have come by stoppage, including a rear-naked choke of Charlie Campbell last September at UFC Perth.
During the build-up, Nolan described his respect for Moicano and said, “He does a really good job of getting the body triangle and essentially forcing his hips to face the earth while his opponent does whatever they want underneath, and he just smashes them,” adding, “I think he's great. I've been watching him since I was a child. It's nothing but respect. I love that dude. He's cool.”
UFC Vegas 123 begins with the prelims at 5 p.m. ET / 2 p.m. PT, streaming live on Paramount+. The main card follows at 8 p.m. ET / 5 p.m. PT. The main event is scheduled for five rounds and is listed as Moicano (-120) vs. Nolan (+100).
The scheduled card also includes Randy Brown (+215) vs. Jacobe Smith (-265) in the welterweight co-main event, plus additional bouts listed as: Ode’ Osbourne (-102) vs. Cody Durden (-118) (flyweight); Yana Santos (+260) vs. Luana Santos (-325) (bantamweight); and Jean-Paul Lebosnoyani (-278) vs. Farman Hasanov (+225) (welterweight). Prelims include Francis Marshall (-218) vs. Dakota Hope (+180) (148-pound catchweight), Rodrigo Sezinando (-185) vs. Theodor Berggren (+154) (welterweight), Julian Erosa (+124) vs. Jeong Yeong Lee (-148) (featherweight), Zachary Reese (-425) vs. Mickey Gall (+330) (middleweight), Nick Klein (+250) vs. Joe Kropschot (-310) (middleweight), Talita Alencar (+225) vs. Piera Rodriguez (-278) (strawweight), and Lucia Szabova (-650) vs. Tainara Lisboa (+470) (flyweight).
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