The UFC Fight Night 292 main event went down this past Saturday at the Meta APEX in Las Vegas, with Tom Nolan taking home a thrilling third-round TKO over former lightweight title challenger Renato Moicano. But honestly, that win is a massive stain because everyone in the MMA world is absolutely livid about how referee Dan Miragliotta basically gifted Nolan the fight. The result instantly took a backseat to the officiating.
Moicano Was Dominating, Then Miragliotta Stepped In
Moicano was absolutely owning the first round, taking Nolan down and getting his back, controlling the bulk of it. He did it again in the second, locking up a body triangle and hunting for one of those rear-naked chokes he’s got nearly a dozen of on his record. It was classic Moicano, just grinding, controlling, doing what he does best. Then, out of nowhere, after about eight seconds of the fight stalling in that dominant position, referee Dan Miragliotta stood them up. Seriously? There wasn’t even a major outcry from Moicano in that exact moment, but the broadcast team and literally the entire MMA world were screaming in unison: Miragliotta absolutely blew it, snatching away a super dominant position from Moicano. Moments after that ridiculous call, Nolan hurt Moicano and flipped the momentum completely going into the third. And yeah, in the third, Nolan kept pouring it on, eventually getting the TKO with punches. But the biggest question on everyone’s mind was if Nolan ever would have had a chance to win that way if not for Miragliotta’s decision the round before.
John McCarthy: ‘Completely Unfair’ and Changed the Outcome
The big question everyone’s asking is, would Nolan have even had a shot at that win if Miragliotta hadn’t made that boneheaded call in the second round? Longtime MMA pioneering referee John McCarthy didn’t mince words. He thinks Miragliotta flat out changed the outcome of the fight. And McCarthy isn’t even sure if Miragliotta’s reasoning, which some might speculate was to make the fight more “exciting,” was even a good one. McCarthy, speaking on his “Weighing In” podcast with Josh Thomson, said Miragliotta likely looked at the position and thought, “We’ve had this position now a good portion of this fight and nothing’s happened , let’s get some action into it.” But that’s just not how it works!
McCarthy stressed, “He stands them up, and it’s completely unfair to one fighter , Moicano. Moicano earned that position. He worked for that position. It’s not an easy position to get to, and once he gets to it, it’s his to have.” Miragliotta is supposed to be one of the top officials in the sport, right? But the MMA community is buzzing with speculation, wondering if he got swayed by fans booing Moicano’s advantageous position, perceiving he wasn’t interested in a prototypically exciting fight. McCarthy was quick to shut that down, hammering home that it’s not a referee’s job to bend to fan noise. He said a referee can’t “make a bad fight good, but you can definitely make a good fight bad.” Nolan got opportunities he never should have had, put into positions he needed the skill set to escape. McCarthy concluded, “(Miragliotta) gave a great advantage to Tom Nolan, and took an advantage away from Moicano. I know Dan was not trying to be unfair.” But the outcome speaks for itself.
This whole situation leaves a sour taste, no doubt. The talk about Miragliotta’s call isn’t going away anytime soon, and it shines a harsh light on the role of officials. When a fight’s outcome is decided more by a questionable stand-up than by actual skill and earned positions, it raises some serious questions about what we’re watching. We’ll be keeping an eye on how the MMA world grapples with this going forward, because calls like this simply cannot become the norm.
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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