RESOLVING THE LEDGER
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See the full story · 1 sourcesAnaheim, CA - July 28:UFC President Dana White stands between Renato Moicano, left, and Brian Ortega during the UFC 214 ceremonial weigh-ins at the Honda Center in Anaheim, CA., Friday, July 28, 2017. (Photo by Hans Gutknecht/MediaNews Group/Los Angeles Daily News via Getty Images) | MediaNews Group via Getty Images
Knock on wood!
Former Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) Lightweight title challenger Renato Moicano is set to collide with two-time Featherweight title challenger Brian Ortega in a rematch eight years in the making at UFC 331, which goes down Sat., Sept. 19, 2026, inside Crypto.com Arena in Los Angeles, California.
The two first met at UFC 214 in which eneded up being the Fight of the Night. Moicano was winning on the scorecards before Ortega pulled off a late guillotine choke in the third round, handing the Brazilian his first professional loss.
UFC attempted to run it back by booking the rematch for UFC 326 earlier this year — but Ortega withdrew for undisclosed reasons .
The two first met at UFC 214 in 2017 in a fight that earned “Fight of the Night” honors. Moicano was winning on the scorecards before Ortega pulled off a late third-round guillotine choke , handing the Brazilian the first loss of his professional career.
UFC attempted to run it back earlier this year, booking the rematch for UFC 326 , but Ortega withdrew for undisclosed reasons .
So, here we go again.
Moicano (21-7-1) snapped a two-fight losing streak in his last outing, submitting Scottish slugger Chris Duncan in the main event of UFC Vegas 115 ( watch highlights ). Prior to that, “Money” dropped a unanimous decision to Beneil Dariush and suffered a title-fight loss to Islam Makhachev .
Oh, and this rematch has some bad blood.
Well, at least on Moicano’s side.
“There is one motherf—ker who I have bad blood with, and his name is Brian Ortega,” Moicano said. “He ran the first time. You know, I was beating him the first time, but he got me the first time, okay, fair enough, it was my first defeat. But now I want revenge. I want his head. I want to kill this motherf—ker.”
Ortega (16-5-1), meanwhile, is officially moving up to Lightweight after spending his entire UFC career at Featherweight. And honestly, the move is probably overdue.
“T-City” has accomplished nearly everything he could at 145 pounds except winning an undisputed UFC title. He fought for the belt twice, headlined major cards and remained one of the division’s biggest names for years, but he is now riding a two-fight losing streak and badly needs a fresh start.
The 35-year-old is coming off a unanimous decision loss to Aljamain Sterling , but what happened before that fight was even scarier.
Ortega fainted during his weight cut, was hospitalized and later revealed he slipped into a coma for roughly 30 minutes .
Somehow, he still went on to compete.
Now, healthy and no longer making brutal cuts to Featherweight , Lightweight is where Ortega will try to end his career on his own terms.
Here is what UFC 331 looks like so far:
Charles Oliveira vs. Arman Tsarukyan 2 (rumored) Renato Moicano vs. Brian Ortega Charles Jourdain vs. Marlon Vera Ryan Gandra vs. Ozzy Diaz Dooho Choi vs. Patricio Freire Eduarda Moura vs. Casey O’Neill
To checkout UFC’s upcoming schedule of events click here .
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