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Renato Moicano goes off on Brian Ortega after he ‘chickened out’ of UFC 331: ‘Nobody is ever going to trust you again’

Renato Moicano already has a new fight lined up in the UFC, set to face off with Tom Nolan on Oct. 31, but remains “f*cking outraged” over Brian Ortega for once again cancelling a fight with him. Ortega was slated to face Moicano at UFC 331 on Sept. 19, having already cancelled their March bout, [...]
Renato Moicano goes off on Brian Ortega after he ‘chickened out’ of UFC 331: ‘Nobody is ever going to trust you again’

Renato Moicano already has a new fight lined up in the UFC, set to face off with Tom Nolan on Oct. 31, but remains “f*cking outraged” over Brian Ortega for once again cancelling a fight with him.

Ortega was slated to face Moicano at UFC 331 on Sept. 19, having already cancelled their March bout, and withdrew from the event after suffering a cut over his left eye. Moicano reacted to the news on his YouTube channel before UFC announced he will now headline UFC Vegas 123.

“Ortega chickened out,” Moicano said. “Something I never expected whatsoever. Quite simply, the easiest fight in the division just slipped right through my fingers. And I was pissed, I was angry, but there’s nothing I can do about it. If you’re watching this video, it’s because I’m not going to fight at UFC 331, unfortunately, because of this son of a bitch, because of this guy who’s always pulling out.”

Moicano did an interview with MMA Fighting this past week and was asked how confident he was that Ortega would show up. Moicano thought there was no way it wouldn’t happen, but was informed of the cancellation less than 72 hours later.

“Where is UFC 331 going to be? Los Angeles, California, his hometown,” Moicano said on Tuesday. “This guy is coming off four straight losses, or three straight losses, hasn’t fought in over two years, and this is already the second fight he’s pulled out of with one week to go. And it’s the second fight against me, man! Twice against me!

“And what this son of a bitch doesn’t know is that you have to cut weight, you spend money on training, you spend hours not producing content — and I’m a f*cking YouTuber now. How many days of live streams did I miss, you son of a bitch? How many days of dieting did I go through just to punch your bum-ass face? And then you simply come up with an excuse like that. That’s how f*cking outraged I am about this.”

Moicano debated himself over agreeing to another fight with Ortega in the future simply because he is “easy money”, but expects Ortega to have a hard time finding opponents.

“The second thing I have to say is that nobody is ever going to trust you again,” Moicano said. “Who’s going to want to fight Brian Ortega? He already missed weight against Sterling, he’s had all kinds of problems. I didn’t want to bring these personal things up here, but in interviews he said it was Tracy Cortez’s fault, that Tracy Cortez was making his life miserable, that he was having problems because of that. And now, over the last two years, over the last three years, what’s the problem? I’m asking, but I want you to go f*ck yourself. I don’t even want to know.”
“It was the easiest half a million dollars I was ever going to put in my pocket,” he said with a laugh. “Nobody talks about that. The money I’m talking about is just… they said it, okay? That’s what was reported. Nobody knows for sure, but they said it [laughs]. Another thing is training time. I don’t even like training anymore, man! I’m 37 years old, you son of a bitch.”

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It was published on September 15, 2026 and last updated on October 9, 2026. The time of the story is shown in your own time zone on the page.

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