Former UFC welterweight champion Belal Muhammad summed up Dan Miragliotta’s work in the UFC Vegas 123 main event in two words.
Posting on X on Sunday, the former UFC champion wrote:
“Terrible ref.”
Check out Belal Muhammad‘s comment below:
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The target was Miragliotta’s decision to stand Renato Moicano and Tom Nolan up late in the second round of Saturday’s headliner at Meta APEX in Las Vegas, with Moicano working from back control and a body triangle locked in.
Moicano had spent most of the fight in exactly that spot. He took Nolan down in the opening round, climbed onto his back and hunted the rear-naked choke while Nolan fought the hands and answered with elbows to the thigh. The Brazilian repeated the sequence early in the second, dragging the Australian down again and re-locking the body triangle.
Then came the reset. Miragliotta waved both men to their feet, Moicano lost the position, and Nolan landed the knee that badly hurt him before the horn. The Australian finished it with punches and elbows at 1:28 of the third round, moving to 12-1 and stretching his UFC win streak to six. Moicano fell to 21-8-1.
Belal Muhammad wasn’t alone in his frustration. Many other UFC reporters and fighters questioned the decision by the referee to stand up the fighters.
Renato Moicano unsure of his UFC future as his contract winds down
Ahead of the fight, Renato Moicano told reporters he intends to see out his current deal before testing the open market. While speaking at Wednesday’s pre-fight press conference, Moicano had this to say:
“I am 37, right. Soon, I am about to be 38. I am not fighting until I am 40, so maybe I fight my contract out and that’s it, maybe not. I don’t know.”
The Brazilian, however, didn’t turn down the chance of sticking with the UFC, but that came with a condition:
“I love UFC, I want to be in the UFC but this contract and then get a new contract would have to be very good money.”
While Moicano will have to think about his future, his rival, Nolan leaves with the biggest win of his career and a top-15 scalp:
“This is the guy I wanted to fight,” he said after the win. “This is my job right now and I performed. Whatever the UFC want to do with me next.”
Edited by Saiyed Adeem Karim
