Fan favorite lightweight contender Renato Moicano has given his official breakdown for which UFC 301 fighter he thinks is guaranteed a victory this weekend.
MMA fans know that when it comes to Money, there’s only one fighter to stand behind; and the one and only Renato Moicano is here to break down one of the more underrated fights of UFC 301 in Brazil.
UFC 301 features a who’s-who of Brazilian MMA talent
UFC 301 takes place this weekend on Saturday, May 4 from Rio de Janeiro and surprise, surprise; the card is littered with top-tier Brazilian talent from the opening fight of the night, all the way to the main event.
In fact, there’s a Brazilian athlete in every single one of the 14 fights scheduled for May 4; with the majority of the headlines so far being dominated by flyweight champion Alexandre Pantoja and the return of MMA legend Jose Aldo.
Yet with so many Brazilians being favorites to get their hands raised in Rio de Janeiro, which fighter does fan-favorite lightweight Renato Moicano believe is certain to earn a victory?
Renato Moicano details his ‘lock of the card’ for UFC 301
Speaking via the Money Moicano YouTube channel, Renato Moicano went into detail about which UFC 301 fighter he believes is the biggest ‘lock of the card’, i.e., which athlete is almost guaranteed to earn a victory.
“Jose Aldo’s fight is not as easy as it looks, Pantoja [has] not got an easy fight too…But the fight where I just don’t see the guy losing is… Caio Borralho.”
“He’s a good prospect with a good stance, he has this Karate-style, good Jiu-jitsu, good wrestling, good timing – he has the style to beat everybody in this division,” explained Moicano, with the 15-1 middleweight set to take on Scottish submission specialist Paul Craig.
“Four KO/TKO’s, four submissions, and seven decisions – you can see he’s smart and I like what he’s doing in Brazil; he has his own gym with good coaches, they’re doing a good job over there.”
Moicano did praise Craig as “maybe he’s the best Jiu-jitsu specialist – especially [as a] bottom player – in MMA,” but acknowledged that specialist grappling skillsets tend to work better at light heavyweight as opposed to middleweight:
“185lbs is hard because the guys are so much faster, agile, and athletic – guys like Ciao Borralho will keep the distance, he will pick and choose the shots – even if he shoots for a takedown, or stays on top, he will be avoiding the submission attempts [and] the damage.”
“I just don’t see Ciao Borralho losing in any way… The odds are not huge, but at the same time I think Ciao Borralho should be an even bigger favorite because I’m not seeing him losing to Paul Craig.”
Borralho is looking forward to the added pressure of fighting in Brazil
UFC 301 will be Borralho’s second fight for the promotion in his home nation, following a UD victory last November and whilst lesser athletes would be nervous about such a massive opportunity to raise the roof, Borralho is keen to turn pressure into a diamond performance.
Speaking to the UFC media, the Brazilian explained how: “I changed the meaning of pressure to me, For me, pressure is a privilege. Every time I’m right here, I think about all the athletes that wanted to be here, and God chose me.”
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“Pressure is a privilege. I’m a guy that is privileged to be here to talk with you guys, with my team and everybody, and living all this. There’s a thousand guys that could give their lives to be here and do the same thing that I’m doing.”
“For sure, there’s pressure, but I love pressure because pressure is a privilege,” said the 15-1 contender.
UFC 301 goes down this weekend from beautiful Rio de Janeiro, live on PPV.