The UFC Fight Night 292 main event on Saturday gave us one of 2026’s most controversial officiating moments, and Renato Moicano believes referee Dan Miragliotta let the crowd dictate the outcome of his lightweight headliner against Tom Nolan. Just two days after the card, Moicano is straight-up calling out Miragliotta for stopping the action during a crucial sequence, a decision he thinks cost him the fight.
That Call Was Absolutely Wild
In Round 2 of the Moicano versus Nolan fight, Moicano (21-8-1 MMA, 13-8 UFC) had Tom Nolan (12-1 MMA, 6-1 UFC) in a full back control, complete with a body triangle locked in. You know how dominant that position is, right? It’s one of the toughest spots to get out of, and it’s super rare to see a referee reset a fight once that kind of control is established. But Miragliotta did it anyway, stopping the action and putting both fighters back on their feet. What happened next? Moicano got rocked shortly after the standup and was eventually put away by Nolan in the very next round. It makes you wonder what would have gone down if Miragliotta just let the ground game play out.
Moicano Says ‘What the F*ck?’ to Referee’s Call
Moicano isn’t holding back on why he thinks Miragliotta made that wild call. He believes the boos from the crowd at the Meta APEX got to the referee, pushing him to take away Moicano’s dominant position. Why? To appease a crowd that was clearly hungry for some more violence, not a grinding ground battle. Moicano was crystal clear on “The Ariel Helwani Show”, saying, “I think people booing. You say that doesn’t play a factor, but I think it does. I think it does a huge factor, especially refrees, 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.” He’s just as shocked as we are, telling people his initial reaction was, “‘What the f*ck is going on?’” He couldn’t believe his dominant spot was just gone in an instant, but he tried to refocus mid-fight.
What Could Have Been, and Why He’s Moving On
The “what if” factor is huge for Moicano. He can’t help but think about what would have happened if he kept that control. While he’s hesitant to flat-out say he would’ve won, he definitely thinks he would’ve been two rounds up and not hurting going into the third. He pointed out, “You have to remember in the first round I took him down very easily. I took him down, I got the back, and I spent a whole round trying to finish him. In the second round, same thing. I think I finished him very fast in the beginning of the round.” Imagine that, if the ref just kept the position. He would’ve passed the entire second round on Nolan’s back, winning the round, instead of getting caught and hurt. It was a bad mistake from the referee, he says. Despite the frustration, Moicano isn’t planning to appeal the result with the Nevada State Athletic Commission. He’s already “turned the page” from the incident, understanding that “This is not going to change. Nobody is going to change, and it is what it is.” What a brutal way to lose, feeling like a ref’s call, influenced by the crowd, cost you everything.
This article was created with AI assistance and published under Seattle On Tap’s editorial standards. See our Editorial Policy.
Originally reported by Yahoo Sports.
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