Big John McCarthy says Dan Miragliotta was unfair to Renato Moicano at UFC Vegas 123

The veteran referee said he has never taken a fighter out of back control, the position Moicano held when Miragliotta stood him up in a main event Tom Nolan went on to win by TKO.

Big John McCarthy has criticised fellow referee Dan Miragliotta for standing up Renato Moicano and Tom Nolan in the UFC Vegas 123 main event, saying on the Weighing In podcast on Monday that forcing the action towards a finish is not an official's job.

Moicano had Nolan's back with a body triangle in the second round when Miragliotta brought the fight back to the feet. Nolan won by TKO in the third round, and Miragliotta was widely criticised afterwards. McCarthy, who wrote many of the sport's rules and runs a course for referees and judges, said Nolan was given the chance to be in positions he should never have been in.

McCarthy said referees can tell a fighter in guard or half-guard to improve their position, but that the instruction makes no sense once a fighter has reached back control. He called it the best position in MMA, because the fighter holding it can finish their opponent without being at risk of being finished themselves.

He also played down suggestions that booing from the crowd prompted the decision. His reading was that Miragliotta, having watched Moicano spend about a full round on Nolan's back without a finish, wanted to change the fight so it could move towards one. McCarthy said that was not the referee's responsibility and that it was unfair to Moicano, who he said threw 20 to 25 strikes from the position in the last minute before the stand-up.

A stand-up should only come when the fighter in control is stalling, McCarthy said, and the bar is far higher from the back. He said: “But any time it gets to back control, it has to be so egregious — and I’m talking four and a half minutes of being in a seatbelt position doing nothing.” He said Miragliotta had broken one of the cardinal rules taught on his course: “You cannot make a bad fight good, but you can definitely make a good fight bad.” McCarthy called Miragliotta a great guy and a fantastic official, and said he may still believe he made the right call. He added: “And that’s OK, but you have to be right for the sport, and the sport tells you, in that position, that’s not the time to be standing someone up.”

READ NEXTRenato Moicano expects nothing from UFC after Tom Nolan stand-up loss: 'I signed the contract'Read the next story →

Every UK fight result and what's next, every Friday. Get the free UK fight briefing

Add Combat Sports UK as a preferred source on Google