Referees getting into a whirlwind of controversy at a UFC event has become a never-ending, tragic story. Previously, at UFC Rio, referee Osiris Maia was under fire from fans and experts for badly mismanaging the Vicente Luque vs Joel Alvarez bout. Now, veteran ref Dan Miragliotta is facing massive backlash for not one but two questionable decisions at UFC Vancouver. And things are getting only worse from there.

At Rogers Arena, Matt Frevola and Kyle Nelson opened the card in a highly anticipated lightweight clash that ended in major dispute. In the first round, Nelson scored a huge knockdown, sending Frevola to the mat and landing a barrage of ground and pound, most of which went unanswered. But surprisingly, referee Dan stopped the action, assuming the round had ended. Reason? Because it turned out he mistakenly heard the bell. As a result, the fight continued. This decision by the referee drew heavy criticism, and to stir the pot even further, Frevola himself has added his view on the issue.

Matt Frevola points out Dan Miragliotta’s mistake at UFC Vancouver

‘The Steamrolla’ wrote on X, “Regarding my fight last night….. I had no idea there was a big controversy until I got back to the hotel. I never thought the fight was stopped at any point, but was confused when the doctor came to look at me after the first ended. After rewatching, it looked like a clear mistake by the ref in thinking the round had ended, but not a mistake to let me keep going. Maybe that’s the fighter in me, but I’m glad I got to keep fighting & even take round 2 in some of the judges’ eyes.”

Here, Frevola actually acknowledged that the veteran referee mistakenly thought he heard the bell when three seconds were still left in the round. However, it’s also worth noting that after Nelson knocked Frevola down, ‘The Steamrolla’ wasn’t properly responding.

The Huntington native managed to survive the later rounds, but it wouldn’t be a stretch to say that if the fight had been stopped with a knockout, it would’ve been a fair call as well.

Yet, none of that happened, and the fight went the full distance, and the hometown favorite ended up taking the unanimous decision victory. Now, just as fans were fuming over Dan Miragliotta’s call in one fight, he repeated another grave mistake in the UFC Vancouver co-main event, where local favorite Mike Malott’s fight with Kevin Holland also sparked heated debate. Even a former UFC fighter has now called out the veteran referee for his errors. 

Josh Thomson believes the veteran ref just had a tough night 

After the first fight of the night stole the spotlight for all the wrong reasons, Dan Miragliotta returned in the co-main event — and things only got more out of control for him. As the opening round began, Kevin Holland looked sharp, letting loose with his punches, but soon Mike Malott landed a kick straight to the groin area, forcing a brief stoppage. It appeared accidental, and the referee issued a warning to the hometown hero. However, moments later, Malott landed another vicious low blow on ‘Trailblazer.’

That second shot was simply too much for Holland to handle. He dropped to the canvas in agony and took the full five minutes of recovery time. When the doctor came in to check on him and asked whether he wanted to continue, the Californian didn’t give a clear answer. So again, Dan decided to restart the fight,  and Holland went on to put in a very underwhelming performance and lost the bout. 

So, while the first fight of the main card had already drawn backlash for Miragliotta, this incident only amplified the criticism. Even former UFC fighter Josh Thomson called it a terrible night for the veteran referee. At the weighing-in Podcast, he said, “Dan Miragliotta tonight. He had a bad night. And I like Dan, nice guy, funny guy, super nice to be around. He just had a bad night because this wasn’t the only mistake that he made tonight.”  

Now, as the discussion around a veteran referee making such crucial mistakes in a significant event continues to heat up, the spotlight turns to the promotion itself. Would the UFC actually look for a viable solution next?