At the UFC Vegas 123 main event, Renato Moicano entered the battle against Tom Nolan to protect his position and future in the lightweight division. Moicano displayed that urgency when he secured an inescapable body triangle on Nolan in the second round, which possibly could have led to a submission victory. But referee Dan Miragliotta’s baffling decision to abruptly stand them up ended horribly for Moicano, as it allowed Nolan to eventually batter his way to a third-round TKO victory.

Following the devastating loss on All Hallows’ Eve, Renato Moicano has addressed the referee’s controversial call and pointed out an interesting factor that he believes influenced Miragliotta’s decision.

“I think people booing,” Moicano said on The Ariel Helwani Show. “You say that doesn’t play a factor, but I think it does. I think it does a huge factor, especially referees, because they are human, and they are susceptible to emotions, and he saw the first one how it went, and the second round was the same thing.  

“Maybe he thought, ‘OK, this is going to be a boring fight nobody is liking; let’s give people some entertainment.’ Dan, I think he made a mistake. I was in a very hard position to get. I’m not saying I would win the fight. I cannot say that, but I can say that was wrong.”   

Moicano’s words point toward the crowd’s reaction in the second round when he wrapped Nolan in a body lock. While the Brazilian was landing some short shots and searching for a submission from the back, the audience at Meta Apex started booing. Almost immediately after, the referee broke up their position and stood them up.

Dan Miragliotta has yet to confirm whether the crowd’s reaction affected his decision at UFC Vegas 123. However, it’s not out of the ordinary for many to believe that such reactions can influence officials.

At UFC 319, referee Marc Goddard also faced similar criticism after breaking up Khamzat Chimaev’s dominant grappling position against Dricus du Plessis a couple of times. Former UFC champion Demetrious Johnson particularly criticized Goddard’s decision and alleged that the referee was trying to create an “exciting fight” for the crowd.

Although the Brazilian sympathized with Miragliotta for making a human error, he stood firmly by his stance that the referee’s decision was ultimately wrong. And there’s definitely substance behind Moicano’s argument.

Under MMA rules, a referee can stand fighters up from a grappling position if the official feels the action is stalling. However, Moicano’s situation turned out to be much different.

The Brazilian had wrapped his opponent in a body triangle, which is considered one of the most dominant positions in grappling. He was also searching for a rear-naked choke and landing some shots from back control.

For Moicano, it was the most effective way he could win the fight. However, the referee Dan Miragliotta decided to intervene at that point and broke away his position by standing them up. This allowed Nolan an easy escape from the grappling exchange, and he capitalized by landing big shots on Moicano and getting the TKO win.

While the referee didn’t break any MMA rules, as he made the decision purely from his perspective, Moicano felt Miragliotta was “wrong” to intervene at that very moment because he was working from the backmount.

In fact, Daniel Cormier also pointed out the same issue during the post-fight show and criticized Miragliotta’s decision.

Despite Renato Moicano remaining fairly rational while addressing the controversy surrounding his latest defeat, his initial reaction was quite different. During the same interview, the 37-year-old admitted that he was “surprised” when the referee broke up his position and that he couldn’t fathom “what the f—k” was going on.

The loss against Nolan marked Moicano’s 3rd defeat in 4 fights, and his ranking dropped from No. 8 to No. 14 in the lightweight division, which is a significant fall. For the Florida-based fighter, making his way back to his previous position will be a difficult task, especially with his UFC contract also nearing its end.

With many questions looming over Moicano’s future in the UFC, a former title challenger has also shared similar thoughts about Dan Miragliotta’s call at UFC Vegas 123. 

Ex-UFC title challenger shares Renato Moicano’s views on referee controversy

Turns out, Renato Moicano is not the only one who thought Dan Miragliotta had given too much weight to the crowd. Former UFC featherweight and lightweight title challenger Kenny Florian also shared a similar stance.

A fan asked Florian on X whether the UFC had instructed Miragliotta beforehand to keep the bout on the feet if the ground exchange went too long. In response, Florian dismissed the idea of the promotion’s involvement in the referee’s decision and mentioned that the crowd’s reaction or simply poor judgment could have prompted Miragliotta to break Moicano’s body lock.

When it comes to poor judgment, pioneer referee John McCarthy also said on the Weighing In podcast that Miragliotta made a very poor attempt at breaking Moicano’s body lock. McCarthy cited the nature of the hold itself as a dominant position and explained that there was no way the Brazilian fighter could have improved it, thereby dismissing Miragliotta’s call.

Regardless of the controversy, Renato Moicano’s loss still stands. The lightweight veteran must now move on and focus on his next challenge.