Two days after UFC Fight Night 292, many are still wondering what was going through referee Dan Miragliotta's mind during the main event. But Renato Moicano believes he knows what happened.
This past Saturday's card produced one of the most controversial officiating moments of 2026. In Round 2 of the lightweight headliner, Moicano (21-8-1 MMA, 13-8 UFC) had full back control on Tom Nolan (12-1 MMA, 6-1 UFC), with a body triangle locked in. And yet, Miragliotta decided to stop the action and reset both fighters on their feet.
It was a shocking call since back control is considered one of the most dominant positions, and it's rare to see a fight get reset once it's been achieved. Unfortunately for Moicano, he got rocked shorty after the standup
and was eventually put away by Nolan in the following round – making many people wonder what would've happened if Miragliotta let the ground sequence play out.
Moicano believes the boos at the Meta APEX got to Miragliotta and pushed him to take away his dominant position to appease a crowd that was hungry for violence.
"I think people booing," Moicano said on "The Ariel Helwani Show." "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."
'What the f*ck is going in?'
As expressed online and in other interviews, Moicano was shocked by Miragliotta's decision. He couldn't believe his position was taken away while he was live in the fight.
"'What the f*ck is going on?'" Moicano said when asked what his initial reaction was. "If you see the frame, man, I was shocked, I was surprised, but then I thought, 'Focus on the fight. Don't let this distract you.' But in the end I was a little bit surprised."
A question of 'what if'
Moicano can't help but wonder what would've happened if he kept control of Nolan's back. He's hesitant to say that he would've won the fight, but at the very least he would've been two rounds up and not hurt going into the third.
"You have to remember in the first round I took him down very easily," Moicano said. "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 referee kept the position. Even though I wasn't hurting him, I was trying to finish him. I was trying to advance. Sometimes it's not easy, but I would've passed the whole second round on his back, and I would've won the second round, and I didn't because, of course, he broke the fight, and I got caught, and I lost the round. I was hurt. I went in the third round a little bit hurt. I was dropped, and I was frustrated. I think it was a bad mistake from the referee."
Moicano doesn't plan to appeal the result with the Nevada State Athletic Commission. He's already turned the page from the incident.
"This is not going to change," Moicano said. "Nobody is going to change, and it is what it is. I move on. I don't even remember."
This article originally appeared on MMA Junkie: Renato Moicano: Dan Miragliotta let UFC Vegas 123 crowd influence standup decision
