This is the live blog for Renato Moicano vs. Chris Duncan, the lightweight headliner for Saturday’s UFC Vegas 115 card at the Meta APEX in Las Vegas.
Moicano is set for this 20th octagon appearance as he looks to get back on track following back-to-back losses. “Money” found himself in a lightweight title fight on a day’s notice at UFC 311 in January 2025 after Arman Tsarukyan was forced to withdraw from the originally scheduled main event matchup with then-lightweight champ Islam Makhachev. Moicano was submitted in the first round in the bout, then went on to face Beneil Dariush at UFC 317 this past June. Dariush got the victory via unanimous decision.
Duncan, a teammate of Moicano’s at American Top Team, competes in his first UFC main event. The 32-year-old is on an impressive four-fight win streak, including three stoppage wins, and a Fight of the Year contender against Mateusz Rebecki.
Check out the UFC Vegas 115 live blog below.
Closing Odds: Per FanDuel, Duncan closes as a slight favorite at -136, with the comeback on Moicano at +116.
Final Prediction: I’m not going to pretend to know what’s going to happen here. Two guys that are teammates, have trained together, and even spent time in the sauna together on the road to the fight always makes me wonder what kind of fight we’re going to get. Are we going to get a glorified sparring match? Are we going to get ultra-aggression with neither fighting like themselves? Or will this look like a fight between two dudes who don’t know each other outside of being on a fight poster?
The way I see it, no matter which version of this fight comes to be, Moicano should win — unless he’s just completely cooked. The Dariush fight, and how quickly he faded makes me a little nervous, but I’ll side with the dog here to teach the vet lesson to his teammate, and find a submission in Round 3. But I truly have no clue what this is going to look like.
Walkouts: Duncan out first, and here comes Moicano. Both fighters look focused and ready to go.
Final announcements: Herb Dean serves as the referee for this main event, and the judges scoring the bout are Mike Bell, Sal D’Amato and Clemons Warner.
Round 1: They touch gloves and we’re off. Duncan lands a leg kick and that’s the only strike that lands in the first 40 seconds. Moicano lands a right hand then checks a leg kick, and another. Moicano shoots, grabs underhook and has Duncan against the fence.
They separate and Moicano is right back on his head and shoves Duncan away. They stand in the center and Duncan fires a head kick that’s blocked. Moicano catches a leg kick and pushes Duncan to the fence. Moicano with a decent knee to the body and Duncan gets separation, but he’s working pretty hard to escape these grappling and clinch positions. Moicano’s jab looks good, then lands a nice clinch knee to the body. Moicano with another nice jab, Duncan gets another leg kick checked, and another, as Moicano lands the jab at will, then a cheeky little left hook that lands. Final 10 seconds, Duncan grazes Moicano with a body kick, and that’s it. Easy 10-9 for “Money.”
MMAFighting scores it 10-9 Moicano
Round 2: So far, this looks like a fight between two teammates, but they are trying out there. Moicano looks very confident as he comes out for Round 2. The Moicano jab lands clean three times in the first 20 seconds. Duncan gets another leg kick checked, then they have a heavy exchange, which Moicano got the better of as Duncan is busted open.
Moicano drops Duncan with a punch, takes the back and he is all over a battered Duncan. Moicano locks in the choke, and Duncan is leaking blood… BADLY. Body triangle from Moicano and full back control.
Punishment continues on from Moicano, who has well over two minutes to work. Moicano with a bunch of right hands, Duncan throws a desperation elbow, and Moicano locks in a RNC, immediate tap, and that’s it.
OFFICIAL RESULT: Renato Moicano def. Chris Duncan via submission (rear-naked choke) – Round 2, 3:14
Post-fight interview: Moicano didn’t even let Bisping ask him a question, and goes on a rant about politics in Brazil, and Jesus being the reason. Then says ‘F*ck you’ to the fans. Moicano then said he wants to fight somebody easy and ranked, or he retires. Another epic rant.
Read the full article here
