Renato Moicano won’t appeal Tom Nolan loss, curses referee
The Brazilian tells MMA Fighting that Dan Miragliotta made the wrong call on the stand-up, but he will not file a complaint: “I should have finished that guy.”
Renato Moicano will not appeal his loss to Tom Nolan at UFC Vegas 123, held Saturday, Oct. 31, in Las Vegas, even though he believes referee Dan Miragliotta got it wrong. In an interview with MMA Fighting released Sunday, the Brazilian said he won’t file a complaint with the Nevada Athletic Commission, and he cursed the referee.
It is a harder tone than Moicano’s first social media posts, when he praised Nolan and called his own performance terrible. VF Comunica reported Sunday how the fight turned after the second-round stand-up.
What Moicano said about Miragliotta
Moicano had Nolan’s back with a body triangle when Miragliotta told both men to stand. Moments later, the Australian landed the knee that dropped the Brazilian. In the third round, Nolan won by TKO at 1:28.
“I was a little frustrated with the referee standing the fight up,” Moicano said. “It caught me by surprise. When he said, ‘Stand up,’ I don’t remember him giving any warnings.”
Moicano said he saw people claiming it was a new rule. “I’ve never heard of that. I’ve never heard of anyone being stood up from mount or from someone’s back,” he said. “It was the first time I’d ever seen it.”
He admitted the call got into his head. “I clearly lost my focus,” he said. “It was the wrong decision, but it’s not going to change anything. I lost, that’s it.”
On Miragliotta, the 37-year-old did not hold back. “I want him to go f*** himself, him and everyone else,” he said.
Why Moicano won’t appeal
Angry as he was, Moicano ruled out any challenge to the result or action against the referee. “I’m not going to blame the referee. I’m not going to file any complaint,” he said. “The next person I need to blame is myself; I should have finished that guy, that’s the truth.”
He also gave Nolan credit. “I’m better than that guy, but he defended well,” Moicano said. The loss is his third in four fights, while Nolan has now won six in a row.
Back control, Jiu-Jitsu and Tom Nolan’s response
Anyone who trains Jiu-Jitsu has a stake in this debate. Under IBJJF rules, taking the back scores four points, the same as mount and the highest score for a position. A black belt, Moicano came into the fight with 11 wins by submission and spent two rounds in that spot hunting the rear-naked choke.
That is what set off the online backlash. “So now we reward a guy not knowing how to get out of the back control and we just stand them up? This is the craziest thing I have ever saw in UFC!” Caio Borralho wrote on X. Joe Solecki agreed: “You absolutely cannot stand up a fight from back control with a body triangle.”
Nolan sees it differently. At his post-fight press conference, he denied asking for the stand-up and said he was complaining about punches to the back of the head. “He said stand up, so I stood up,” he said. “I was strong on the mat, defensively sound; he wasn’t anywhere near a choke.”
As of publication, VF Comunica had found no public explanation from Miragliotta or the commission. The fight had plenty of edge before it even started: Moicano answered Nolan’s praise with profanity.
What do you think: did Miragliotta blow the call with Moicano on Nolan’s back, or should the Brazilian have finished when he had the chance? Tell us in the comments.
Read more:
- Renato Moicano loses to Tom Nolan after disputed stand-up
- Renato Moicano rejects Tom Nolan’s praise at UFC Vegas 123
- Renato Moicano vs. Tom Nolan headlines UFC Vegas 123
