Moicano (21-7) had to welcome Ortega (16-5).
Ultimate Fighting Championship lightweight division at UFC 331 September 19 at the Crypto.com Arena in Los Angeles. However, the match was canceled five days before fight night because Ortega suffered a cut above his eye in training that required stitches.
Moicano, who now has a new assignment for later, recently addressed Ortega’s ouster.
Renato Moicano takes down Brian Ortega after their UFC 331 fight breaks down
Moicano will now struggle with rising prospects Tom Nolan
(11-1) in the main tournament a
Fight night 31 Oct At Meta Apex in Las Vegas. The Brazilian recently blasted Ortega for pulling out of the game, revealing he was disappointed to miss out on what he believed to be a favorable game.
“Ortega went out,” Moicano said on his YouTube channel. “Something I never expected. Just, the easiest fight in the division just slipped through my fingers. And I was mad, mad, but there’s nothing I can do. If you’re watching this video, it’s because I’m not going to fight at UFC 331, unfortunately for this guy who’s always been knocked out.”
Ortega has previously pulled out of a fight against Moicano that was scheduled for March this year. The latter also notes that the former featherweight title challenger missed weight in his last fight Aljamain Sterling last year.
Moicano believes Ortega has lost all credibility after pulling out of back-to-back fights and claims “T-City” blamed his split with fellow UFC fighter Tracy Cortez for missing weight against Sterling.
“No one will ever trust you again,” Moicano added. “Who wants to fight Brian Ortega? He was already missing weight against Sterling; he’s had all kinds of problems. I didn’t want to bring up these personal things here, but in interviews he said it’s Tracy Cortez’s fault, that Tracy Cortez makes his life miserable, that he’s in trouble because of it. But now, what’s the problem for the last two years? I want you to fuck yourself, I don’t even want to know.
