UFC Fight Night: Moicano vs. Nolan takes place October 31 at Meta APEX in Las Vegas.
Renato Moicano vs. Tom Nolan
Renato Moicano is a pretty damn good grappler, especially when he gets somebody’s back, but I think people sometimes overlook his striking. He’s got a nice jab, mixes in kicks, and is perfectly comfortable spending time on the feet. He isn’t the most explosive guy at lightweight, and he can be a little hittable, but he’s experienced, knows how to work his way into good positions, and is particularly dangerous with the rear-naked choke.
Tom Nolan is a big southpaw for lightweight who likes to pressure and throw in combination. He’s got a sharp straight left, does some good work to the body and mixes in kicks, too. He definitely has power, but I like that he doesn’t have to rely on it. We’ve seen him slow things down, make adjustments, and win a decision when the finish isn’t there. He’s still young, but there’s quite a bit to like about his game.
Randy Brown vs. Jacobe Smith
Randy Brown is a tall, lanky welterweight who’s pretty good at making use of his length. He’s got a nice jab, throws straight punches and knees up the middle, and can be tricky to get close to when he’s working at his preferred range. He’s a capable grappler, too, although I think he’s at his best when he can keep things standing and pick his shots. He can get caught when exchanges get messy, but there’s a lot of experience behind what he does.
Jacobe Smith is a powerful southpaw with a serious wrestling background, and I think that’s what makes him such a difficult guy to deal with. He doesn’t have to get particularly fancy on the feet because he hits hard, closes distance quickly, and can chain takedowns together when he needs to. He’s very explosive, and if he puts you on your back, he’s not content to just hang out there. He’ll let his hands go and do some damage.
Yana Santos vs. Luana Santos
Yana Santos is a fairly high-volume striker who mixes kicks and boxing combinations with plenty of clinch work. She isn’t the cleanest striker, and she’s not much of a finishing threat, but she’s physically strong and has a ton of experience against good competition. She’s also coming off three straight wins, including decisions over Miesha Tate and Macy Chiasson.
Luana Santos has a strong judo background, and you can see it in the way she likes to close distance and get her hands on people. She’ll strike with you, but I think her best work comes when she can tie somebody up, hit a trip or takedown, and start looking for submissions. She’s not the busiest striker out there, although she’s fairly composed on the feet. Her grappling is definitely the more interesting part of her game, especially when she’s able to get on top and start working.
Ode’ Osbourne vs. Cody Durden
Ode’ Osbourne is a rangy southpaw with quick hands, a dangerous straight left and the ability to put someone away in a hurry. He’s got a few submissions on his record, too, although his striking is what stands out. The biggest concern with Osbourne has been his defense. He’s been caught on the feet a few times, and several of his UFC losses have come by submission.
Cody Durden is a pressure wrestler who likes to close distance, push opponents against the fence and work through multiple takedown attempts. His striking isn’t particularly polished, but he’ll throw his hands to set up the wrestling and he’s got a decent submission game himself. He caught Matt Schnell with a nice anaconda choke, although he’s also been submitted quite a few times. That’s been a recurring problem for him, especially against better grapplers.
Zachary Reese vs. Mickey Gall
Zachary Reese is a big middleweight who generally looks to get people out of there early. He’s got good power and a decent submission game, with eight of his ten wins coming by finish. He can be a little reckless, though, and he’s been knocked out in three of his four losses. There’s plenty of offense there, but his defense is a concern, especially when he’s exchanging in the pocket.
Mickey Gall is a jiu-jitsu black belt whose best work is taking the back and attacking rear-naked chokes. Six of his seven professional wins have come that way. His striking has never really caught up with his grappling, and he hasn’t always had the wrestling to get better opponents to the ground. He’s lost four straight and hasn’t fought since November 2024.
Jean-Paul Lebosnoyani vs. Farman Hasanov
Jean-Paul Lebosnoyani is a BJJ black belt who’s been training since he was a kid, but there’s quite a bit more to his game than submissions. He’s got some power in his hands, can wrestle, and has a good variety of attacks on the ground, particularly his triangle chokes. Moving up to welterweight seems to have been a good decision for him. He hasn’t lost since making the move, and he’s won his first two UFC fights, although both went to decision.
Farman Hasanov has a very good freestyle wrestling background, and that’s clearly the foundation of his game. He attempted 27 takedowns against Eric Nolan in his UFC debut and landed 17 of them, which is pretty ridiculous for a three-round fight. He doesn’t throw a whole lot on the feet, at least not based on what we’ve seen in the UFC, but he does have four knockout wins on his record. I’m interested to see how his wrestling holds up against somebody who can really grapple.
Francis Marshall vs. Dakota Hope
Francis Marshall is a pretty solid wrestler with a good submission game, particularly when he can take somebody’s back. Five of his ten professional wins have come by rear-naked choke, so that’s clearly his bread and butter. His striking is still a work in progress, although he did knock out Marcelo Rojo in his UFC debut. He’s coming off two wins, including a first-round submission of Erik Silva and a decision over Lucas Brennan.
Dakota Hope is an aggressive striker who throws a lot of volume and doesn’t mind getting into exchanges. He’s got five knockouts on his record, and he does a fair amount of work in the clinch, too. His UFC debut against Kai Kamaka III was a very competitive fight, even though he lost the split decision. He landed plenty of shots but took quite a few himself, and that’s something he’ll need to clean up as he faces better competition.
Rodrigo Sezinando vs. Theodor Berggren
Rodrigo Sezinando is a BJJ black belt who likes to get fights to the ground, but he’s got some power in his hands, too. He made it to the final of The Ultimate Fighter 33 after beating Diego Bianchini and Jeff Creighton, although Daniil Donchenko knocked him out in the first round of the finale. I think his grappling is the stronger part of his game. His striking can get a little sloppy, and there’s still a lot we don’t know about how he’ll handle better competition.
Theodor Berggren is a switch-stance striker who’s finished all eight of his professional wins, five by knockout and three by submission. He’s aggressive, throws with some power and doesn’t seem particularly interested in leaving things to the judges. He’s dangerous when he gets going, but he can be caught himself. He was submitted by Justin Burlinson on the regional circuit, and Daniil Donchenko knocked him out with a head kick in his UFC debut.
Julian Erosa vs. JeongYeong Lee
Julian Erosa is a high-volume southpaw who fights with a lot of pressure and isn’t afraid to get into ugly exchanges. He throws plenty of punches and kicks, but one of the better parts of his game is how quickly he recognizes a submission opening. He’s particularly good with guillotines and D’Arce chokes, and he caught Ricardo Ramos and Christian Rodriguez with guillotines in back-to-back fights. His defense is a pretty obvious concern, though. He’s been knocked out several times, most recently by Lerryan Douglas in March.
JeongYeong Lee has some good boxing, particularly his straight right and counterpunching, but he’s also a BJJ black belt with three armbar victories on his record. He had a couple of impressive quick finishes in Road to UFC, knocking out Lu Kai in 42 seconds and submitting Xie Bin in 36. His UFC run hasn’t been quite as convincing. He beat Blake Bilder, then got knocked out by Hyder Amil and lost a decision to Daniel Santos. He’s been out since May 2025, so there’s also a fair bit of inactivity coming into this one.
Nick Klein vs. Joseph Kropschot
Nick Klein comes from a wrestling background and does most of his best work on the ground. His last three wins were all by rear-naked choke, including a 37-second finish on Contender Series that got him into the UFC. The problem has been getting his game going against better competition. Mansur Abdul-Malik and Andrey Pulyaev both stopped him in the second round, and his striking defense is something he still needs to address.
Joseph Kropschot is a BJJ black belt with six submission wins, including a rear-naked choke over David Allakhverdiev to win the LFA middleweight title. What I liked about his Contender Series fight with Jon Kunneman was that he didn’t have to rely on the grappling. He used his reach well, landed a lot of jabs and teep kicks, and nearly finished an armbar late in the third round. He ended up winning a decision, but I thought he showed quite a bit in that fight.
Talita Alencar vs. Piera Rodriguez
Talita Alencar is a six-time jiu-jitsu world champion, and her grappling is obviously the strongest part of her game. She’s persistent with her takedowns, does a good job maintaining top control and is particularly dangerous when she gets to somebody’s back. All four of her professional submission wins have come by rear-naked choke. Her striking is still a work in progress, but she’s won three straight, including a late submission of Ariane Carnelossi.
Piera Rodriguez is primarily a boxer, but she mixes in quite a bit of wrestling and does some good work in the clinch, particularly with her knees and elbows. She’s a fairly aggressive striker who likes throwing in combination, and she can win rounds with her takedowns and top control, too. She’s got five knockouts on her record, although all five of her UFC wins have come by decision. She’s won three straight since that disqualification against Ariane Carnelossi.
Lucia Szabova vs. Tainara Lisboa
Lucia Szabova is coming over from OKTAGON, where she won both the bantamweight and flyweight titles. She has a background in judo and Muay Thai, but she’s just as dangerous on the ground. She’s got some nice armbars, can do damage from top position, and finished Cecilie Bolander and Leidiane Fernandes with ground strikes to win those belts. She also went five rounds with former UFC fighter Lucie Pudilová in August and won a decision. She’s looked very good so far, although we’ll have to see how it translates against UFC competition.
Tainara Lisboa is a two-time Muay Thai world champion who does some good work with her kicks and elbows, particularly in the clinch. She isn’t a particularly high-volume striker, but she’s dangerous, and she’s got more grappling than you might expect from her background. She submitted Jessica-Rose Clark in her UFC debut and has three submission wins overall. She’s coming off two stoppage losses, though, getting submitted by Luana Santos and then stopped with strikes by Melissa Croden. She hasn’t fought since October 2025.
