Dan Miragliotta’s decision to stand Renato Moicano up while he controlled Tom Nolan’s back has triggered an extraordinary backlash across MMA, with Joe Rogan questioning the sport’s legitimacy, Daniel Cormier demanding consequences, John McCarthy calling the decision unfair and Moicano revealing the controversy may have cost him half of his fight purse.
Renato Moicano had spent most of the first round and the beginning of the second turning the UFC Vegas 123 main event into exactly the kind of fight he wanted. He had taken Tom Nolan down, climbed onto his back, locked his legs around the Australian’s body and forced a dangerous young striker to spend extended stretches defending instead of attacking. Then referee Dan Miragliotta intervened, ordered both men back to their feet and changed the fight in a matter of seconds. Nolan immediately capitalized, badly hurting Moicano late in the second round, carrying that momentum into the third and eventually finishing the Brazilian with ground strikes at 1:28.
Andrew Carswell is a combat sports columnist and college writing professor, based in Las Vegas, NV, whose work examines the intersection of fighting, media, business, and culture. His commentary and analysis have been featured in various magazines, newspapers, and media outlets, including Yahoo! News, and USA TODAY. Blending journalistic insight and experience with a fan’s perspective, Carswell writes about the fight game as both a cultural phenomenon and a global business.
