The first fight on a card is meant to ease everyone in. At UFC Vegas 113, it did the opposite. Before the night could even find a rhythm, frustration took over the conversation, and it had nothing to do with rankings or title implications. Instead, the focus shifted to the man in the middle, Dan Miragliotta.

By the time the dust settled between Dustin Jacoby and Julius Walker, the win almost seemed secondary. Fans weren’t dissecting strategy or momentum shifts—they were asking how much damage was allowed before the fight was finally waved off. And once the question hit social media, it didn’t take long for the criticism to snowball.

Referee decisions spark backlash early at UFC Vegas 113

At UFC Vegas 113, Dustin Jacoby struggled to impose his game plan early against the younger Julius Walker. The first round was slow and grindy, with Walker relying mainly on wrestling and control. He spent long stretches on top, while Jacoby remained patient underneath, protecting and waiting for his opportunity rather than forcing it.

That moment arrived almost immediately in the second round. ‘The Hanyak’ landed a stinging straight that sent Walker crashing to the canvas, the kind of knockdown that normally ends things on the spot. And for a single second, Jacoby even backed off, sure that the fight was over. Instead, referee Dan Miragliotta waved him forward, suggesting that Julius Walker was still in it.

Forced back into action, the 37-year-old resumed the onslaught, delivering crushing elbows and relentless ground-and-pound until Walker succumbed to the punishment. The resistance faded quickly, and Miragliotta stepped in to stop his 500th fight as a referee at 1 minute 42 seconds of the second round, sealing Dustin Jacoby’s turnaround win. While the outcome itself was decisive, the controversy centered more on the timing of the stoppage. For many fans and journalists on social media, it came far too late.

The pause before the stoppage was long enough to make the moment uncomfortable, and that hesitation is what ignited the backlash. MMA voices did not hold back. Adam Martin summed up the mood bluntly, writing, “WTF is Big Dan doing? That fight was stopped 20 punches too late. Horrendous reffing,” he wrote on X, before adding, “The reffing has been terrible tonight. Some bad judging, too.” Danny Segura expressed his concern, writing, “Not a good stoppage from Dan.”

Alex Behunin noted the irony that Dan Miragliotta’s 500th UFC assignment became memorable for the wrong reasons: “Dan Miragliotta’s 500th UFC fight did not go so well.” Although 37-year-old Jacoby officially secured the win at UFC Vegas 113, the victory was quickly overshadowed by the larger discussion about the officiating. When officiating overshadows the fight, it’s a clear sign of a problem, and fans were quick to ensure that this one did not go unnoticed, especially when it has now become a recurring issue with the same referee.

Miragliotta’s disastrous outing at UFC Vancouver left fans fuming

The frustration surrounding UFC Vegas 113 felt familiar because fans had already experienced something similar just months before. During the UFC’s return to Vancouver, Dan Miragliotta was at the center of another chaotic night that left confusion louder than celebration inside the arena.

It began on the main card when Kyle Nelson appeared to finish Matt Frevola with a strong ground-and-pound combination. Miragliotta came in, stopped the fight, and then bizarrely ordered it to continue. No explanation, just a reset that drew boos and “ref, you suck” cries from the crowd. Nelson eventually won via a unanimous decision, but the experience had already soured the crowd.

But that wasn’t the end of it. Later, the co-main event between Kevin Holland and Mike Malott only intensified the controversy. After Holland took several low blows without a point deduction, the fight’s momentum changed, and many felt the decision loss that followed was hollow.

‘Trailblazer’ reacted online afterward with a mix of sarcasm and pain, writing, “Man f— what yall talking about bro kicked a std into my d—.” By the end of the night, Vancouver was more than upset; it was exhausted. Now, with UFC Vegas 113 added to the list, the pattern fans are pointing to is becoming harder to ignore.