Renato Moicano had plenty of reasons to point at the referee, however, he didn’t hit out at referee Dan Miragliotta.
The Brazilian lightweight gave his first written reaction to the UFC Vegas 123 main event on his X account, and it contained no criticism of Miragliotta. ‘Money’ credited Tom Nolan’s defense and put the result down to his own work.
Moicano had controlled most of the fight before the controversy arrived. In Saturday’s headliner at Meta APEX in Las Vegas, he took ‘Big Train’ down in the opening round and spent long stretches on his back with the body triangle locked, hunting the rear-naked choke. He repeated it in Round 2, and with the Brazilian again on the back and punching to open up the choke, Miragliotta called for a reset and stood them up.
Nolan made the free position count. The Australian landed a knee that badly rocked Moicano, dropped him late in the round and finished the fight with ground strikes at 1:28 of Round 3.
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Moicano addressed the grappling rather than the officiating, writing in Portuguese (translated):
“I want to thank the fans! I had a terrible performance, I was well trained, I managed to get the back control but I couldn’t do any damage, he was defending well! Congrats to the guy who follows!”
Check out Renato Moicano‘s comments below:
He had also sent a short message to Nolan earlier, calling him a “beast.” The defeat leaves Moicano, 37, at 21-8-1 with three losses in his past four.
Nolan, for his part, moves to 12-1 and has won six straight. It is the biggest win of his career, in his first UFC main event.
While Moicano kept the focus on himself, many watching did not extend the referee the same courtesy.
Belal Muhammad calls Dan Miragliotta a “terrible ref” after UFC Vegas 123 stand-up
Former UFC welterweight champion Belal Muhammad was among those who reacted. ‘Remember the Name’ kept it to two words on X on Sunday:
“Terrible ref”
Muhammad has often shared his thoughts on UFC cards, and he wasn’t the only one who questioned Dan Miragliotta’s decision to stand the pair up in the main event.
Former UFC two-division champion Henry Cejudo, for his part, asked his followers for their thoughts on the referee’s decision:
“What do you guys think about the referee taking away Moicano’s position?”
UFC lightweight Terrance McKinney went further as he took shots at the referee:
“He capitalized, but the ref won that one.” He added: “Crazy work standing that up.”
Edited by Saiyed Adeem Karim
