Tom Nolan got the finish he was looking for Saturday at UFC Fight Night 292, but in the eyes of many it came with an assist from referee Dan Miragliotta.
All was going according to plan for Renato Moicano, so much so that he obtained the back multiple times in the opening two rounds. The final time, however, Miragliotta decided to stand the fight up despite Moicano's dominant position – a shocking decision seldom made by referees. Moicano (21-8-1 MMA, 13-8 UFC) was then dropped and significantly damaged to close Round 3. Nolan (12-1 MMA, 6-1 UFC) went on to finish the fight with punches at the 1:28 mark of Round 3.
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TOM NOLAN WITH THE BIGGEST WIN OF HIS CAREER
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RD 3 TKO WIN OVER RENATO MOICANO
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Moicano had maintained back position with the body triangle locked for approximately two-and-a-half minutes at the time of the stand up, hitting Nolan with punches to potentially open up a choke.
Referees are permitted to break up fights for timidity. The Unified Rules of MMA state:
"The Referee shall either stand up or break the fighters when neither fighter is able to or fails todemonstrate real, significant and/or sustained effort to advance towards finishing the fight by anymethod. Simply maintaining what may be perceived as a superior position will not be consideredeffort to advance towards finishing the fight nor grounds for a guaranteed opportunity to maintain thatposition."
It's unclear if Moicano or his team will appeal the decision on the basis of potential referee error. Almost always, such appeals come up short in Nevada.
Assuming the win stands, that's six-in-a-row for Nolan, who comes up victorious in his first UFC main event.
Moicano, 37, has now lost three of his most recent four going into what will be a contract fight for him. Pre-fight, Moicano indicated he plans to fight out the contract and explore free agency.
Full UFC Vegas 123 results include:
- Tom Nolan def. Renato Moicano via TKO (punches) – Round 3, 1:28
- Jacobe Smith def. Randy Brown via unanimous decision (30-26, 30-26, 30-26)
- Cody Durden def. Ode Osbourne via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)
- Luana Santos def. Yana Santos via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)
- Jean-Paul Lebosnoyani def. Farman Hasanov via TKO (doctor’s stoppage, cut) – Round 3, 2:11
- Dakota Hope def. Francis Marshall via split decision (29-28, 28-29, 29-28)
- Rodrigo Sezinando def. Theodor Berggren via TKO (doctor’s stoppage, cut) – Round 2, 5:00
- Julian Erosa def. JeongYeong Lee via knockout (punches) – Round 1, 1:31
- Zach Reese def. Mickey Gall via unanimous decision (29-27, 29-27, 29-27)
- Joe Kropschot def. Nick Klein via submission (armbar) – Round 2, 1:25
- Piera Rodriguez def. Talita Alencar via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)
- Lucia Szabova def. Tainara Lisboa via TKO (strikes) – Round 3, 3:20
This article originally appeared on MMA Junkie: UFC Vegas 123 results: Tom Nolan finishes Renato Moicano – but not without referee controversy
