UFC 223 results: Renato Moicano dominant in decision win over Calvin Kattar

Renato Moicano used a varied striking attack, including heavy leg kicks, to slow down Calvin Kattar and hand him his first loss in the UFC.

Moicano (12-1-1 MMA, 4-1 UFC) took a unanimous decision from Kattar (18-3 MMA, 2-1 UFC) with a pair of 30-27 scores and a 29-28. The fight stayed on the feet throughout.

The featherweight bout was part of the main card of today’s UFC 223 event at Barclays Center in Brooklyn, N.Y. It aired on pay-per-view following prelims on FS1.

The fight started off measured and both fighters were patient. But about 75 seconds in, Kattar landed a heavy punch against Moicano and backed him up. He landed a few more punches, but didn’t truly go for the kill. Moicano landed a body kick two minutes in and just missed a head kick.

Kattar stayed in tight, but started to pay the price. Moicano kicked his body and legs to slow Kattar down. With two minutes left, Kattar briefly backed Moicano up with a combination, but couldn’t land – which was much of the story of the fight. The leg kicks forced Kattar to switch stances, so Moicano started to work that leg, too.

Moicano stayed after a finish in the third round with two minutes left. After tearing up Kattar’s lead leg further and making sure his face had its share of blood, the Brazilian went after Kattar down the stretch. When he had Kattar hurt, he reset and stayed patient before returning with heavy punches and elbows. Moicano couldn’t get the stoppage, but it was a dominant performance.

Moicano got back in the win column after a submission loss to Brian Ortega in July 2017, which was the first loss of his career. Kattar had a 10-fight winning streak snapped and lost for the first time since February 2010.

Up-to-the-minute UFC 223 results include:

• Renato Moicano def. Calvin Kattar via unanimous decision (29-28, 30-27, 30-27)
• Zabit Magomedsharipov def. Kyle Bochniak via unanimous decision (29-28, 30-27, 30-27)
• Chris Gruetzemacher def. Joe Lauzon via TKO (corner stoppage) – Round 2, 5:00
• Karolina Kowalkiewicz def. Felice Herrig via split decision (29-28, 28-29, 29-28)
• Olivier Aubin-Mercier def. Evan Dunham via TKO (strikes) – Round 1, 0:53
• Ashlee Evans-Smith def. Bec Rawlings via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)
• Devin Clark def. Michael Rodriguez via unanimous decision (29-28, 30-27, 30-27)

For complete coverage of UFC 223, check out the UFC Events section of the site.

(MMAjunkie’s John Morgan, Mike Bohn and Ken Hathaway contributed to this report on site in Brooklyn.)