UFC Vegas 123: Moicano faces Nolan after Ortega fight collapses; Erosa to retire

The headliner is a replacement, and the man in it is the one who walked away from the original. Renato Moicano was to face Brian Ortega, and that fight fell apart. Moicano says two camps for Ortega were enough, so he took Tom Nolan instead. The lightweight bout was rescheduled and became a five-round main event, the first of Nolan's career.

The stakes are lopsided in an interesting way. Moicano, 37, is 21-7-1 and returned to the win column in April with a second-round submission of Chris Duncan in the UFC Vegas 115 main event, after losses to Islam Makhachev and Beneil Dariush. Nolan, 26, is 11-1 and has won five straight since Nikolas Motta beat him in his UFC debut. UFC ranks Moicano No. 12 and Nolan No. 14.

The week has been loud. Nolan called Moicano one of his heroes at media day, and Moicano shut that down: "I don't want compliments. I want money." He has three fights left on his contract and wants to be a free agent after that. If he wins, he says he wants Ilia Topuria, a wish and not a booking.

Behind the headliner, the card was reshuffled. Azamat Bekoev left after an anaphylactic reaction. Bolanos left his bout with Francis Marshall after a training cut, according to Yardbarker MMA, and Marshall now meets Dakota Hope. Leal's leg injury opened the co-main for Jacobe Smith, who has yet to get a full camp for any of his four UFC fights. He wants two or three Top 15 opponents in 2027, then a title shot early in 2028.

The undercard carries its own weight. Lucia Szabova, the former OKTAGON bantamweight and flyweight champion, makes her UFC debut against Tainara Lisboa, who dropped to flyweight after two straight losses. Julian Erosa, 35, says he picked this fight as his last, partly after watching Darren Elkins' interviews from his final bout. Jeong Yeong Lee, on a two-fight skid, says he left Fight Ready and promises to make weight after missing it in March. Rodrigo Sezinando returns against Theodor Berggren after healing a fractured orbital bone without surgery.

Prelims start Sat, Oct 31, 5 p.m. ET (21:00 UTC) and the main card follows at Sat, Oct 31, 8 p.m. ET (00:00 UTC). Watch for any further late changes before then.