Renato Moicano emerged victorious at UFC Fight Night 243 in Paris and extended his winning streak to four. However, the lightweight competitor was not pleased as there was no change in his divisional rankings even after a dominant outing. Moicano at this point still sits at #11 in the lightweight division. 

Interestingly, UFC experts and veterans are also questioning the way fighters are ranked. One of the veterans was Michael Bisping who was as astonished as Moicano about the unchanged hierarchies for the fighters on the official UFC rankings page.

Michael Bisping points out the anomaly in the UFC ranks

Michael Bisping and Anthony Smith discussed the aftermath of UFC 307 on the ‘BELIEVE YOU ME’ podcast on Bisping’s YouTube channel. The duo also spoke of the unusual nature of UFC rankings which in Bisping’s words, “does not make any sense.” UFC rankings are rendered by a voting panel of media associates who vote for the top combatants in each weight class and pound-for-pound overall. This might be the reason why the ranks do not add up.

According to Bisping’s colleague Mike Harrington, the official ranking states that there are three more fighters above Moicano but they have not won a single fight since 2022. ‘The Count’ replied to the observation stating, “Yeah but the problem is as you said, it was 12, he was 11 and you beat the guy behind you just logically, and the rankings a lot of the time are wild they don’t make any sense. They don’t make any goddamn sense. It’s crazy but he just beat the number 12 guy. The number 10 guy by the way is Max Holloway who beat number 3 Justin Gaethje.”

Moicano battered Benoit Saint-Denis and the bout ended via doctor’s stoppage in the second round. Yet, this did not reflect on the official rankings which irked the winner. Moicano went on a rant on his X account. He said, “If UFC rankings aren’t total bullsh*t, I should be ranked No. 6 in the lightweight division tomorrow,” Moicano said. He further added, “Why? In the last 8 months, I’ve fought 3 times, and I’m on a six-fight win streak in the lightweight division, with five stoppages.”

Understandably the Brazilian is frustrated with the lack of movement upwards especially when he was trying to land a fight against #5 ranked Dan ‘The Hangman’ Hooker. On top of that, ‘Money Moicano’ not only fought his way to victory but was keeping a painful secret from the fans.

Renato Moicano won while battling personal adversities

In a shocking revelation, Renato Moicano revealed that he fought the entire match with a severe shoulder fracture. Kevin Iole shared images of the injury, which was so significant that even UFC President Dana White expressed surprise. White noted that Moicano was fortunate that the doctor did not examine his shoulder during the fight. The injury could have potentially resulted in a loss due to medical stoppage, giving Saint-Denis the victory. 

He said, “Yeah, I mean, it was incredible. What he was able to do with that injury, yeah. And sitting in the corner was never even a concern. It’s not even like they were, you know”¦ Yeah. And they’re lucky. Because if Saint-Denis looked like that and the doctor went to the other side, fight’s off.”

The American Top Team fighter was expected to enter the Top 10 after the win but that wasn’t the case. What was more astonishing is that Saint-Denis, despite losing the fight did not drop a single digit in the charts. Moicano’s anger is justified given the fact that he entered the fight with wins over notable contenders like Jalin Turner, Drew Dober, and Brad Riddle.

So do you side with Renato Moicano? Do you believe what Michael Bisping said about faulty rankings was right? Let us know in the comments.