It’s “Money” time.
Renato Moicano is all of a sudden in a UFC championship fight, as the fan-favorite veteran has stepped up to replace an injured Arman Tsarukyan and take on UFC lightweight champion Islam Makhachev in the main event of Saturday’s UFC 311 in Inglewood, Calif.
The announcement was during at Friday’s morning weigh-ins, as UFC CEO Dana White revealed that Tsarukyan was having back issues and couldn’t compete. A wild mix up for the UFC’s first pay-per-view of the year.
Below is how fighters and others in the MMA community reacted to the title change.
MMA Junkie
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Dana White
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Renato Moicano
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Danny Segura
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Michael Chandler
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UFC
READY FOR HIS SHOT 😤@MoicanoUFC is ready to fight for the LW title!! #UFC311 pic.twitter.com/P5kYXiaPU0
— UFC (@ufc) January 17, 2025
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Dustin Poirier
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How much you weigh right now ?
— tonio (@ANTONIOEESPARZA) January 17, 2025
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Terrance McKinney
Give Renato the money and let him fight 💰
— Terrance McKinney (@twrecks155) January 17, 2025
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Aiemann Zahabi
READY FOR HIS SHOT 😤@MoicanoUFC is ready to fight for the LW title!! #UFC311 pic.twitter.com/P5kYXiaPU0
— UFC (@ufc) January 17, 2025
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Diego Lopes
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Dan Tom
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Aaron Bronsteter
Dana White on weigh-in show: “Around 1 am last night we got a call from Arman Tsarukyan and he let us know that he was experiencing significant back pain and felt that he was not healthy enough to compete, so he’s out of the fight. Stepping in to face Islam Makhachev for the…
— Aaron Bronsteter (@aaronbronsteter) January 17, 2025
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Spinning Back Fist
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Anatomy of a Fighter
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Alan Jouban
Makhachev will now be facing Moicano for the lightweight title. pic.twitter.com/hHdYSNyjc5#UFC311
— Jed I. Goodman © (@jedigoodman) January 17, 2025
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Ricky Simon
BREAKING NEWS!!!!
Makhachev will now be facing Moicano for the lightweight title. #UFC311 is LIVE TOMORROW on @ESPNPlus PPV! pic.twitter.com/2JZevvpQP2
— danawhite (@danawhite) January 17, 2025
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Matt Wells
With Arman Tsarukyan out of the #UFC311 main event due to injury, Islam Makhachev vs. Renato Moicano now headlines tomorrow’s card for lightweight gold.
FULL STORY: https://t.co/04cDqnFiml pic.twitter.com/tlT4RCwtvS
— MMA Junkie (@MMAJunkie) January 17, 2025
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This article originally appeared on MMA Junkie: MMA world reacts to Renato Moicano stepping into UFC 311 title fight vs. Islam Makhachev
