Renato Moicano has revealed the extent of the horror injury he fought through to claim victory in the main event of UFC Paris on Saturday night.
The Brazilian had his hand raised at the end of round two of the fight despite losing the round after his opponent, home favourite Benoit Saint Denis, failed to prove to doctors that he could see out of his right eye.
It was all square on the judge’s scorecard at the time, with Moicano dominating the first round – landing 36 significant strikes – before his opponent fought back in the second.
Damage to the eye of Saint Denis was his downfall, however, with doctors ruling he was unable to continue despite arguably looking favourite to claim victory at that point.
It was however Moicano who came out of the bout worse off, and he has now revealed that a shoulder injury almost caused him to withdraw and hampered him during the fight.
Renato Moicano has revealed the horror shoulder injury he fought through to win the main event of UFC Paris
The issue appeared evident as he took on home favourite Benoit Saint Denis on Saturday night
The 35-year-old took to social media to reveal that he suffered the injury three weeks before the fight
‘I hurt my shoulder 3 weeks ago,’ the 35-year-old posted on X, formerly Twitter. ‘But I couldn’t pull out of a main event.
‘Thank you [to] my team for helping me [in] training like that [and getting] me ready for the fight.’
The post accompanied two images, one of an x-ray of his shoulder which appeared to show it lodged out of position and the other of how it looked from behind him, with one bone clearly raised.
Fans had identified the issue during the fight, but nothing was mentioned before hand as Moicano refused to pull out on grounds of injury.
It was also evident during his walk to the octagon, while, in the second round, the issue appeared to worsen, but he continued to fight on.
After the bout, he called out Paddy Pimblett and Dan Hooker, claiming he is looking for ‘easy fights’ and ‘easy money’.
The bout was stopped after the doctor ruled that Saint Denis (pictured) could not see out of his right eye
Moicano had his arm raised despite losing the second round on the judge’s scorecard
‘Next, I want easy money,’ he said. ‘Paddy Pimblett, easy money. Dan Hooker, easy money.
‘Don’t come up with bulls*** fights. I want easy fights.’