Former interim UFC lightweight champion Dustin Poirier has had his say on the Dan Miragliotta standup that dominated the fallout from UFC Vegas 123, and he didn’t let the referee off the hook.
Poirier, who now sits on the Deep Waters panel on Paramount+, addressed the second-round call on Monday’s episode, two days after Tom Nolan stopped Renato Moicano in the main event at the Meta APEX.
The sequence came in Round 2. Moicano had taken Nolan’s back and locked in a body triangle, hunting the rear-naked choke, when Miragliotta judged the Brazilian wasn’t being active enough and stood the pair up.
Speaking on the show, Poirier said a finish wasn’t guaranteed either way, but that the referee shouldn’t be deciding that:
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“Tom might have beat him regardless even if he would have had his back for the rest of the round. Maybe Moicano wouldn’t have found the choke but we have to let the fight unfold and play out the way it’s going to work without interference from the ref. That messes up everything.”
Check out Dustin Poirier‘s comments below:
The standup changed the fight. Nolan hurt Moicano late in the second round and finished him with punches and elbows at 1:28 of the third, extending his winning streak to six and moving to 12-1.
Moicano, however, didn’t blame the referee right after the fight. The Brazilian congratulated Nolan for the win, and claimed he didn’t perform to his best in the main event.
Poirier isn’t the only big name to weigh in. While ‘The Diamond’ kept his focus on how the fight played out, UFC commentator Joe Rogan went after the legitimacy of the sport itself.
Joe Rogan reacts to UFC Vegas 123 controversy
Joe Rogan and Jon Anik weren’t on duty this weekend, but both had strong opinions regarding the referee’s decision. UFC play-by-play man Anik read out the text he received from his colleague during an episode of his YouTube show with his brother Jason:
“He wrote in our text with ‘DC’ (Daniel Cormier), ‘It’s not a sport if refs can do that.’ I’m not sure much else needs to be said.”
Nolan, for his part, confirmed he had a word with the referee right before the big call. However, it was for shots to the back of the head and he did not ask to be stood up.
Edited by Saiyed Adeem Karim
