Renato
Carneiro is beginning to settle in comfortably in the Ultimate
Fighting Championship’s lightweight division.
“Moicano” improved to 2-1 since moving to 155 pounds on Saturday,
as he submitted Jai Herbert
with a rear-naked choke 4:34 into the second round of their bout at
UFC Fight Night 190 at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas.
“We specifically trained to take him down and take his back,”
Carneiro said. “I was planning to do this, but what I expected was
to finish him in the first round. I watched all his fights and he
always gave up his back. I think he knew what I was going to do so
he kept avoiding giving me his back, but in the second round, I was
going strong in the ground and pound, he gave me his back and I got
the rear-naked choke.”
The Brazilian was in complete control throughout his matchup with
Herbert, but he learned a valuable lesson from the fight before
his, where Danilo
Marques gassed himself out hunting for a rear-naked choke in a
third-round TKO loss against Kennedy
Nzechukwu. Patience was key for “Moicano,” who transitioned
from one dominant position to another and used ground-and-pound to
create an opening to secure the fight-ending maneuver.
“With the ground game, we just had seen what happened to the other
Brazilian guy who fought before me,” Carneiro said. “He was taking
the guy’s back and rushing for a submission, but, for me, in the
ground game, you have to be patient. It’s more about control.
Control your opponent, don’t spend energy and go in at the right
time. And that’s what I did. I’m really happy that I had patience
in this fight.”
All eight of the 32-year-old American Top Team representative’s
submission triumphs have come via rear-naked choke.
“I was just so happy he tapped. I don’t even know how to explain
it, what it’s like to win a fight,” he said. “To me, it’s the best
feeling in the world and I’m going to be feeling like this one week
from now. I’m really happy.”
Despite that elation, Carneiro feels ready to move on to more
serious matters, namely a ranked opponent in the lightweight
division.
“My next fight will be against a Top 15 for sure. I keep asking the
UFC the best,” he said. “I want the best names they can give me and
that’s what I’m looking for. Guys like Islam
Makhachev, [Gregor] Gillespie, all those guys. The best
wrestler, the best striker… It’s even better for me. I want to
fight the best.”