Renato Moicano and Magomed Mustafaev were scheduled to meet next month at UFC Fight island 6, but Moicano was forced to withdraw from the bout.
The fighter, who is currently residing in the United States, says that issues with his green card are why the withdrawal happened.
“My lawyer said that if I left [the country] it could affect my green card process,” said Moicano to MMA Fighting. “Borders are still closed and there’s a risk of leaving for the flight and returning to Brazil and not being able to come back to the United States and leaving my wife and my 7-month-old son alone here until God knows when. I respect the UFC, it’s very important for me and that’s how my make a living, it’s my dream, but we have to always put family first. I wouldn’t drop everything for a fight and leave my son and wife by themselves here. That could even affect my performance, so I’ve decided to wait.”
Mateusz Gamrot wound up stepping in and will now battle Mustafaev at UFC Fight Island 6.
Moicano says he’d like to fight a ranked opponent the next time he competes, but the fighter understands why the ranked foes run away from him.
“It’s obvious that I want a ranked opponent, but I understand that they will run,” Moicano said. “I’ll fight whoever comes and will earn my right to fight someone ranked. I want to fight someone ranked, of course, but if it happened now, they will do it again, they won’t want to fight me. It’s a step back for them. But I’m sure we’ll be among the top 15 and we’ll soon be chasing the belt.”
UFC Fight Island 6 takes place on Saturday, October 17 from Fight island in Yas Island, Abu Dhabi with Brian Ortega and Chan Sung Jung headlining. Fightful is providing live coverage of the event, while broadcast plans have yet to be revealed.
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