Renato Moicano’s future once again hung in the balance after Brian Ortega withdrew from their scheduled bout for the second time. Just days before UFC 331, Ortega was forced out of the fight after suffering a nasty cut above his eye during training, leaving Moicano without an opponent for the September 19 event.

Rather than find a last-minute replacement for the Brazilian, the UFC decided to move him to a different event altogether. Moicano will now headline the October 31 Fight Night card at the Meta Apex in Las Vegas against Tom Nolan. In an interview with Ariel Helwani, Moicano revealed that UFC CBO Hunter Campbell reached out to him shortly after Ortega’s withdrawal and offered him the main event slot.

“They were like, Hunter called me, and he said, ‘Hey, Ortega is out. What do you want to do?’” Moicano revealed. “And I said, ‘Let me think about it.’ And I thought, and I said, ‘Okay, maybe I can be on the card, but maybe I’m gonna have to face somebody that doesn’t have a name.’ Because nobody with a name and that was favorable, is gonna take the fight on a week’s notice. You know what I mean?

“So I called Hunter, and I said, ‘Hey, I don’t really fight anybody else on Saturday. Let’s try to find somebody on UFC 333.’ And I think that would be nice. And then he said, ‘Tom Nolan.’ And I said, ‘Okay, let’s go. Tom Nolan, UFC, October 31.’”

The UFC had announced the October 31 Fight Night card during Week 3 of Season 10 of Dana White’s Contender Series. While several feature fights had already been revealed, the promotion had yet to announce a headliner.

Moicano vs. Nolan now fills that spot, giving the Brazilian another opportunity to headline a UFC event despite the latest disruption to his plans.

However, this isn’t the first time ‘Money’ has been shifted from a marquee card to a Fight Night main event.

When Brian Ortega first withdrew from their rematch at UFC 326 in March, the UFC again moved the Brazilian into a new main event. This time, he faced fellow American Top Team fighter Chris Duncan at UFC Vegas 115 on April 4.

Shifting a fighter from a marquee event and elevating him to a Fight Night card’s main attraction definitely isn’t something that happens regularly in the UFC. But when push comes to shove, the promotion has shown that it is willing to make the crucial call.

For instance, after Asu Almabayev withdrew from the UFC Mexico main event against Brandon Moreno on February 28 due to injury, the UFC replaced him with Lone’er Kavanaugh, who was scheduled to fight Bruno Silva at UFC Fight Night: Emmett vs. Vallejos on March 14. Surprisingly, the young Englishman delivered a career-best performance, beating the former champion at the Mexico event.

Regardless, Moicano made the most of that opportunity, submitting Chris Duncan with a rear-naked choke in the second round, which helped reschedule his rematch with Ortega.

Now, with Brian Ortega out for a second time, the 37-year-old has another opponent and another main event to prepare for. And according to the Brazilian, the new matchup could be more difficult than the one he originally wanted.

Renato Moicano believes Tom Nolan is more dangerous than Brian Ortega

Moicano appears happy with the opportunity to headline another Fight Night card. But when it comes to the actual matchup, he believes Tom Nolan presents a tougher challenge than Ortega.

“Yes, 100%. Brian Ortega, he is not in a good place mentally,” Moicano added. “And I think that would be an easy fight, to be honest. You know, my f—g pockets. So that would be easy. Tom Nolan would be harder, but it is what it is, you know?”

Moicano’s comments come as Ortega attempts to navigate a difficult period in his career. The former featherweight title challenger is still looking for his first win since defeating Yair Rodriguez in February 2024 and has since suffered losses to Diego Lopes and Aljamain Sterling.

A series of injuries and health issues has also disrupted Ortega’s career further, with the latest injury now forcing him out of his second scheduled fight against Moicano, in what was a lightweight reset for the Mexican-American.

Tom Nolan, meanwhile, enters the matchup against Renato Moicano with considerably more momentum. The Australian lightweight is riding a five-fight winning streak and recently added another notable win by defeating surging contender Fares Ziam.

That run has put Nolan in a strong position heading into his biggest UFC opportunity yet. He will now face the No. 8-ranked Moicano, with a victory potentially giving the Australian a significant boost in the lightweight rankings.

For Moicano, the change of opponent means another reset after months of trying to secure his rematch with Ortega. As for Ortega, his latest injury setback leaves his comeback plans uncertain once again.