What the f—k was Dan Miragliotta doing last night?
The veteran referee absolutely botched two different fight-ending sequences at UFC Vancouver, permanently altering the course of two main card fights. What’s particularly interesting here is that the two incidents were entirely different circumstances, making for a well-rounded display of incompetence.
Early on the main card, Lightweight action fighter Matt Frevola took on former Featherweight kickboxer Kyle Nelson. Nelson didn’t look at all small
in his new division, and he answered Frevola’s aggression nicely with counter jabs and lead leg body kicks. Then, in the closing 30 seconds of the round, Nelson timed Frevola with an overhand right and sent him to the floor. “The Monster” followed up with heavy ground strikes, bouncing Frevola’s head off the floor while turning the lights on and off.
Miragliotta intervened a few seconds shy of the bell for a well-timed and appropriate stoppage.
Unfortunately, Miragliotta wasn’t actually stopping the fight. According to the commentary team, Miragliotta claims to have heard the horn and ended the round. This imaginary bell never happened, of course. Miragliotta’s actions were excused because of the extremely loud Vancouver crowd, but that doesn’t make any sense! A rowdy crowd explains failing to hear the bell — a la Jose Aldo vs. Chad Mendes 2 — not a phantom ring.
Reminder: Miragliotta twice stopped fights early at UFC Kansas City, halting the action 10 seconds early at the clapper warning rather than the official horn.
As a result of his error, Nelson vs. Frevola continued on for two more unnecessary rounds. Frevola won, thankfully, but his deserved knockout win will be erased from the history books. Any chance of taking home a $5ok performance bonus disappears as well.
In the co-main event, Mike Malott and Kevin Holland were taking lumps out of one another when two low blows disrupted the action. A Malott front kick and then knee landed low less than a minute apart, and Holland collapsed in agony. “Big Mouth” is many things, but the incredibly active combatant is no coward or wimp — he was clearly in horrific pain and suffering a real injury as a result of the low blows.
Miragliotta opted not to take a point, which is a whole can of worms that I don’t want to even get into right now (more on that here). The bigger issue was that Miragliotta ceded all authority and control in the ensuing minutes, an absolute failure of fighter safety.
After five minutes, it was very clear that Holland could not continue. He was still badly compromised, shaking his cup in a desperate bid for relief. Miragliotta utterly failed to take control of the situation and just kept asking, “Can you continue?” When Holland refused to answer, Miragliotta just restarted the fight!
It was insane … then he did it again between rounds two minutes later. After bringing in the doctor — who also failed to protect Holland — Miragliotta pushed the decision-making responsibility onto both the doctor and Holland. When nobody would actively intervene, Miragliotta sent Holland out for another round. Just like last week, it was an instance of a doctor, corner, and referee all failing to protect the athlete.
Unsurprisingly, Holland was noticeably flat in rounds two and three, losing a clear-cut decision. In a way, there’s a moral victory in surviving the bout wounded against a talented contender, because “Trailblazer” should have walked away with a “No Contest” after those opening four minutes.
There is no accountability in MMA officiating. Miragliotta almost certainly will not be reprimanded for his baffling decision-making. He’ll just show up on another UFC card, put an athlete in danger, and continue on unfettered by his incompetence.
