Tom Nolan Stuns Renato Moicano With Third-Round TKO
Tom Nolan spent much of his UFC Vegas 123 fight with Renato Moicano trying to get the Brazilian off his back. By the third round, however, Moicano was the one desperately looking for a way out.
After surviving a grappling nightmare through the opening two rounds, Nolan turned the fight upside down with his striking. The Australian battled through Moicano’s relentless wrestling before unleashing vicious ground and pound for a third round TKO victory on Saturday night.
It wasn’t pretty getting there, but Nolan made sure the ending was absolutely spectacular.
Round 1 – Moicano took the center of the cage early, but Nolan welcomed him with a knee straight to the body. The Brazilian answered with a nasty body kick of his own before Nolan fired back with a straight left hand. Nolan followed up with a combination upstairs, but Moicano had absolutely no interest in standing around and trading punches.
Moicano easily ducked underneath the attack, secured the takedown, and wasted little time taking Nolan’s back. With just over three minutes remaining, Moicano locked in a body triangle and immediately made Nolan’s life miserable. Nolan fought like hell to escape, but getting Moicano off his back was proving easier said than done.
Moicano stayed glued to Nolan, following every movement as the two scrambled across the canvas. Nolan briefly went belly-down before rolling onto his back, but Moicano maintained control throughout the exchange. The Brazilian began hunting for the rear-naked choke, forcing Nolan to focus entirely on defending his neck.
Nolan eventually worked his way back to his feet, but Moicano wasn’t about to give up his favorite seat. Nolan fired elbows into Moicano’s thigh, desperately hoping to loosen the Brazilian’s grip and create an opportunity to escape. Unfortunately for Nolan, Moicano continued threatening the choke before dragging the fight right back to the canvas.
Nolan spent the remainder of the round with Moicano attached to his back like an unpaid parking ticket. No matter what he tried, the Brazilian refused to go anywhere, putting together a dominant opening round on the ground.
Round 2 – Moicano landed a clean body kick off the rip and then tried to catch a kick to get a takedown, but instead clinched and put Nolen on the fence. Nolan fought it off and landed a head kick, but then Moicano got the body lock, got the takedown and took the back quickly. Securing the body triangle he got the position with over 3:30 left in the round once again.
The crowd wasn’t a big fan of the game plan from Moicano and they let him know it, but he likely couldn’t care less. The crowd got what they wanted moments later as the ref reset the position which the commentary team didn’t agree with since Moicano had a dominant position.
Nolan landed a big knee that dropped Moicano. He took top position and went off with the ground and pound. Moicano tried a hail mary leg attack, but Nolan stopped it and he went off with shots until the round ended.
Round 3 – Nolan came out for the final round with plenty of confidence, immediately getting back to work with his striking. He landed clean shots upstairs before ripping a heavy body kick that Moicano couldn’t catch this time. Nolan followed up with a nasty knee to the head that appeared to hurt the Brazilian.
Moicano managed to weather the storm and secure a takedown, looking to drag the fight back into his world. Unfortunately for Moicano, Nolan had absolutely no intention of spending another round playing defense on the ground.
Nolan scrambled his way into top position and immediately went absolutely berserk with ground-and-pound. He began unloading punches with bad intentions, looking to put an exclamation point on an incredible comeback.
Moicano covered up and desperately tried to defend himself while searching for a way back to his feet. Nolan wasn’t giving him an inch, continuing to rain down shots as the Brazilian struggled to escape the punishment.
The referee had finally seen enough and stepped in to stop the fight, giving Nolan a massive comeback victory. After spending much of the fight dealing with Moicano’s relentless grappling, Nolan turned the tables and finished the Brazilian.
What a massive victory for Tom Nolan, who survived the grappling nightmare before delivering one of the biggest wins of his career.
Official Result: Tom Nolan def. Renato Moicano via R3 TKO, 1:28
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