"McGregor would never do that" - Renato Moicano explains why Ilia Topuria might be lacking in confidence going into UFC 298 title fight
Renato Moicano does not seem to believe that Ilia Topuria will be the next Conor McGregor.
As one of the many MMA YouTube channels to break down the UFC 298 main event, Moicano claims the event press conference leads him to believe that Alexander Volkanovski will retain the belt on Feb. 17. In his explanation, Moicano argued that the challenger showed a lack of confidence in the face-offs to close the event.
Moicano said:
"I saw a little bit of a crack in Topuria's confidence. We saw at the end when they put them together to do the face-offs and [heard what Topuria said]. Man, McGregor would never say that. Even if McGregor is playing a character, he would never [say that] in the face-offs. Maybe Topuria is not that confident anymore when the fight is only one day [away]."
Moicano's comments on Topuria stemmed from a released video revealing Topuria's respectful comments towards the champion during their face-off at the UFC 298 press conference. Despite writing off Volkanovski during the entire lead-up to the fight, the Georgian momentarily changed his tone.
Topuria told Volkanovski:
"I respect you as a person [and] as a professional. I'm just fighting for my dreams."
Volkanovski and Topuria will headline UFC 298 in Anaheim, California on Feb. 17.
Renato Moicano believes Ian Garry feels "pressure" at UFC 298
Along with his prediction for the main event, Renato Moicano believes that Ian Machado Garry will have a lot to deal with at UFC 298 against Geoff Neal.
Though ultimately predicting a win for the undefeated Irishman, Moicano felt that pressure is accumulating on the young welterweight, who has handled the criticism poorly.
Moicano said:
"When I was watching [the press conference], I was saying: 'Man, this guy is feeling the pressure a lot.' Because people were booing him and he was talking nonsense... If [Garry] loses, he is going to be in big trouble. At the press conference he was mad at the fans... If you listen too much to the fans that can get into your head and it definitely got in Ian's head."
Watch the full UFC 298 breakdown video from the Money Moicano YouTube channel below: