Renato ‘Money’ Moicano takes his moniker very seriously. So much so that he has admitted that his main goal in the UFC is not to win the title. What the Brazilian wants more than anything else is to be known and build his brand, since that would help put him in a far better financial position when his fighting career is over.

But that wasn’t always the case. For a long time, the 155fer was one of the many talented but not extraordinary fighters in the promotion. This continued until a couple of years ago when he decided it was time for a change. The #10 ranked lightweight is now a father and turned 35 this year. With the end of his career approaching and the responsibility of raising a family, the Brazilian adopted the persona of ‘Money’ Moicano.

His new approach to his career is perfectly encapsulated by his famous and oft-repeated phrase “I cannot afford to lose”. But not just in the Octagon, but also outside it. The lightweight star, after all, is a prodigious cryptocurrency trader and even advocated that the UFC should pay out its bonuses in crypto. In addition, the 35-year-old revealed that he had bought $10k in Bitcoin before his UFC 311 fight.

However, we do not know exactly how much Moicano has made in crypto trading. The Brazilian has never publicly spoken about his gains or losses from crypto, even if he shills for it every chance he gets. At the moment. ‘Money’ is set to face Islam Makhachev in the UFC 311 main event for division gold. And if he can win that fight, he may not even need to trade crypto to make money, as winning the title would bring him enormous fame and riches.

Renato Moicano’s fight of a lifetime

Renato Moicano was not even in the title picture coming into UFC 311. After all, the Brazilian was ranked #10 in the division and needed at least a couple more wins against top-ranked guys before he could even be considered for a title shot. However, Arman Tsarukyan got injured and since ‘Money’ was already fighting on the card (originally against Beneil Dariush), he was offered an opportunity to fight Makhachev for the latter’s lightweight title.

And Moicano is sure he will win the fight. Why? Well, as he told Joe Rogan, “I cannot afford to lose”. Not even when fighting the best lightweight in the world on barely a couple of days’ notice. And ‘Money’ does have a shot, although not a very good one, at beating the Dagestani phenom.

After all, Moicano has a BJJ-based fighting style, which matches up well with Makhachev and his world-class wrestling. Not many were expecting Moicano to win his last fight- that against Benoit Saint-Denis at UFC Paris last year, either. But not only did ‘Money’ beat the Frenchman, but dominated him completely.

He who has the strongest will, wins, as the old saying goes. And since losing is something Moicano absolutely cannot afford to do, his will may well be strong enough to walk away with the belt this Saturday. What do you think about Renato Moicano’s love for cryptocurrency?