Jalin Turner put Renato Moicano down at UFC 300. He just didn’t make sure he stayed down.
The early prelims of UFC’s highly anticipated card saw a bizarre turn of events in its final fight. Turner, a lightweight coming off an impressive win over Bobby Green, entered the bout heavily favored and hurt Moicano early, then lost momentum when the Brazilian responded with a takedown.
Turner got back onto his feet after a couple minutes. As the seconds ticked down, Turner leveled Moicano on a hard left counter then … walked away. Turner clearly believed he had ended the fight with the punch, only for Moicano to immediately get back up.
There were only 18 seconds left when Moicano’s back hit the mat, but that is more than enough time to get in some extra blows on a hurt opponent and end the fight.
Fast forward to the end of the second round, and the roles were reversed.
Moicano capped an impressive four minutes with a TKO win to notch his third win in a row.
Moicano denied he was hurt badly in his post-fight interview. More specifically, he yelled “Nobody can hurt me, I’m Money f***ing Moicano!” He also invited UFC commentator Joe Rogan onto his new “Show Me The Money” podcast.
The fight wound up being a significant upset and marketing opportunity for Moicano, and a lesson learned for Turner.
Turner entered the fight in decent need of another win, too. He saw a five-fight win streak ended by Mateusz Gamrot at UFC 285 in March 2023, then missed weight and took another loss to Dan Hooker at UFC 290 the following July. Both losses were by split decision, but were enough to stall Turner’s momentum up the lightweight ranks before the win over Green in December.
This certainly won’t help him bounce back.
Daniel Miller is a sports fanatic who lives and breathes athletics. His coverage spans from major league championships to local sports events, delivering up-to-the-minute updates and in-depth analysis for sports enthusiasts.
