Referee Dan Miragliotta's decision to take away Renato Moicano's back control and locked-in body triangle in the UFC Vegas 123 main event opened the door for 26-year-old Tom Nolan, who went on to win by technical knockout at 1:28 of the third round. Having dominated on the mat in the opening round, the Brazilian went back to the same approach in the second, only for the referee to stand the fighters up without any warning. "If you guys do not know anything about mixed martial arts or the sport of jiu-jitsu, the body triangle is one of the most dominant positions you could be in," said MMA great Demetrious Johnson, who was scathing about the call. An unforgivable error. Johnson stressed that a referee is not there to manage the spectacle. "His job is not to oversee that the fight is being entertained. His job is to make sure nobody f****ng dies and no fouls are committed."
Appearing on The Ariel Helwani Show, the 37-year-old Moicano said he had made peace with what happened, although the financial hit still stung. "I could not care less about Tom Nolan or Dan Miragliotta. It's just life, you know? ... The only thing that I get sad about it is I got only half of the paycheck, you know?" he said. The defeat was Moicano's third in his last four fights, while Nolan stretched his winning run in the UFC lightweight division to six.
