Renato Moicano vs. Tom Nolan Headlines UFC Vegas 123: What a Win Means for a 26-Year-Old on a Five-Fight Streak
Renato Moicano does not want your compliments. Tom Nolan spent fight week handing them out anyway, and Moicano’s response at media day was the best thing anybody said all week.
“F–k that, Tom Nolan. I’m going to beat your f–king ass, bro. Stop that s–t. I don’t want compliments. I want money.”
They headline UFC Fight Night: Moicano vs. Nolan on Saturday at the Meta APEX in Las Vegas, five rounds at lightweight, with the full card on Paramount+. Both men made weight, Moicano at 156 and Nolan at 155.5.
The Kid Called Him Out and Got Him
Nolan is 26, from Toowoomba in Queensland, 6-foot-3 with a 73-inch reach, which is enormous for a lightweight. He is 11-1 overall and 5-1 in the UFC. The one loss is his debut, a TKO to Nikolas Motta in January 2024.
He has won five straight since, including a submission of Charlie Campbell that earned a Performance of the Night bonus and a unanimous decision over Fares Ziam in June 2026 that took Ziam’s spot in the top 15. He is now ranked 14th. This is his first main event and his first scheduled five-rounder.
He also asked for this fight. “It’s a manifestation,” Nolan said at media day. “I called him out.” Then the part that explains the whole booking: “I wouldn’t have called him out if I thought he was a shell of himself.”
He has also been openly reverent, calling Moicano “a legend and a hero of mine growing up.” Hence Moicano’s reaction.
Moicano Is 37 and Does Not Have Many of These Left
Moicano is 21-7-1, ranked 12th, and this is his 21st UFC appearance. He is a Brazilian jiu-jitsu black belt who is tied for third in UFC history in rear-naked choke submissions with seven, and he fought Islam Makhachev for the lightweight title at UFC 311 in January 2025, losing by first-round submission.
Since then: a decision loss to Beneil Dariush at UFC 317, then a second-round submission of Chris Duncan in April that he described as the one that mattered. “I was coming off two losses, and then I beat Chris Duncan in a very good fashion.”
He is honest about why he took this. The fight replaced a planned Brian Ortega rematch that fell apart when Ortega got cut in training, and Moicano says the switch came with a raise. “Main event, five rounds, a little bit more money.” He also thinks the swap upgraded his resume: “Ortega is a bigger name, but I think beating Tom Nolan would do better for my record.”
On the fight itself he is measured. “I’m expecting a very hard fight. He’s a very good fighter, well-rounded, striking, grappling. I just think I’m better.” He says he deliberately brought in tall training partners, and that he has to survive the first round before the fight turns his way.
What It Actually Wins
Not a title shot. Nobody should pretend otherwise. Justin Gaethje holds the undisputed lightweight belt after unifying against Ilia Topuria in June, and the line ahead of this fight is Topuria, Arman Tsarukyan, Charles Oliveira, Max Holloway and Paddy Pimblett.
Number 12 against number 14 is a gatekeeper fight at the bottom of the top 15. What it wins is relevance and a main-event slot on the resume, which for a 26-year-old on a five-fight run is worth plenty. Moicano already knows what he wants to ask for: “Ilia Topuria. Easy money!”
The odds say pick-’em. Nolan opened a slight favorite on DraftKings and the money moved to Moicano during the week.
The Rest of the Card
The co-main is worth your time. Jacobe Smith, 13-0 and 4-0 in the UFC with all four wins by finish, took this on less than two weeks’ notice against Randy Brown, four weeks after stopping Bruce Whitehead at UFC 332. Brown is 20-8 and has lost his last two.
Also on the card: Yana Santos against Luana Santos at women’s bantamweight, ranked sixth against seventh, both on three-fight win streaks. And Julian Erosa fights JeongYeong Lee in what has been reported as the 37-year-old’s retirement fight after 18 UFC bouts, win or lose.
A longtime sports reporter, Carlos Garcia has written about some of the biggest and most notable athletic events of the last 5 years. He has been credentialed to cover MLS, NBA and MLB games all over the United States. His work has been published on Fox Sports, Bleacher Report, AOL and the Washington Post.
