Until referee Dan Miragliotta explains himself, which seems unlikely to happen, we might never know the thinking behind his baffling decision at UFC Fight Night 292, but at least one prominent former fighter is considering a bigger picture.
Miragliotta caused widespread outrage from fans and pundits alike Saturday night when he stood up Tom Nolan and Renato Moicano during their UFC Fight Night 292 headliner at Meta APEX in Las Vegas. It happened in the second round as Moicano (21-8-1 MMA, 13-8 UFC) firmly controlled Nolan's back with a body triangle and kept working for a rear-naked choke. Up until that point, Moicano held more than seven minutes of control time. All it took for Miragliotta to intervene was only several seconds without hand fighting.
Miragliotta's decision to take away Moicano's dominant position and stand them up had a direct impact on the fight as, in the final minute of Round 2, Nolan (12-1 MMA, 6-1 UFC) hurt him with punches. It was clear at the start of Round 3 that Moicano didn't fully recover from the onslaught, which led to Nolan finishing him with strikes at the 1:28 mark of the third.
Speculation about why Miragliotta stood up Moicano abounds, and Kenny Florian wonders about the UFC's influence on the veteran referee. Not directly, mind you, but rather in how the UFC recently has emphasized entertainment over simply winning through its actions of releasing Michael Page, Farid Basharat and others.
As one X user asked, "Does this not just show the influence the UFC has on the 'sport' of MMA. Excitement is rewarded. Low action is punished to the point of not re-signing undefeated fighters.
That question got a thoughtful response from Florian.
"I no longer work for the UFC, and while I can’t speak to what influence they may or may not have, I personally don’t believe this was a directive from the promotion," Florian wrote on X. "Perhaps the referee was influenced by the crowd’s boos, or perhaps it was simply poor judgment. Either way, a professional referee has absolutely no business trying to make a sporting contest more entertaining. A referee’s responsibility is to enforce the rules, not manufacture excitement. The moment entertainment value begins influencing officiating decisions, I believe the integrity of the sport also becomes compromised.
"When a fighter is punished for successfully establishing a dominant position, we’re no longer rewarding effective MMA. We’re actually undermining it."
Every analyst on the UFC broadcast was in agreement on the "referee error" made by Miragliotta.
Despite seemingly everyone agreeing that Moicano was wronged, the 37-year-old former UFC title challenger said he will not file an appeal with the Nevada State Athletic Commission.
This article originally appeared on MMA Junkie: Kenny Florian considers bigger picture of UFC influence on Dan Miragliotta controversy
