Tom Nolan on Moicano stand-up: 'I'd be pissed off if that was me and I had the back'

Nolan said referee Dan Miragliotta should not have stood the pair up at UFC Vegas 123 and that the crowd influenced the call, but insists the fight would have gone the same way.

By Combat Sports UK Staff · Published Wed 4 Nov, 20:44 UK · AI-assisted reporting

Tom Nolan speaking on The Ariel Helwani Show — Photo: The Ariel Helwani Show

Tom Nolan has told The Ariel Helwani Show he would be "pissed off" in Renato Moicano's place, and that referee Dan Miragliotta should not have stood up their UFC Vegas 123 main event with Moicano on his back.

Nolan said he has now watched the fight back. "I can absolutely see why Moicano would be annoyed with that. I'd be pissed off if that was me and I had the back and it got stood up, for sure," he said. He did not concede the result, though, adding: "I do think, however, the fight still was going to go the same way." Nolan said Moicano "wasn't having a great deal of success on the back" and was tiring, and that the plan was to "just be patient" and "look for the knockout in the later rounds".

Helwani asked why Miragliotta made the call, describing it as "really unprecedented". Nolan pointed to the noise in the arena. "I really do think the crowd had a lot to do with it, man. It was honestly, it was insane how loud it was in there," he said. "Like, I couldn't hear my corner. I couldn't hear myself think." He added: "I don't think that he should have stood that up, but I do think that's why he stood it up. I do think that the crowd had a big influence on him."

Nolan also feels the row has taken something from the win. "It definitely does feel like it's been taken away a little bit," Nolan said earlier in the interview, explaining that in the venue it "didn't seem like a big deal" but that people were upset afterwards on social media and in interviews.

His comments go further than his first reaction at the post-fight press conference, where he said he was complaining to Miragliotta about punches to the back of the head, not asking for a stand-up. The crowd theory is also at odds with referee Big John McCarthy, who played down suggestions that booing prompted the decision.

Nolan stopped Moicano at 1:28 of round three on 31 October. Moicano, who has said he will not appeal, told the same show: "He beat me fair and square. It's not his fault the referee made a mistake."

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Tom Nolan Renato Moicano