Renato Moicano 'not going to blame the referee' after controversial UFC Vegas 123 loss - MMA Junkie
Renato Moicano is taking his UFC Fight Night 292 with a commendable amount of grace.
Moicano (21-8-1 MMA, 13-8 UFC) was wronged in the eyes of many in Saturday's lightweight headliner vs. Tom Nolan (12-1 MMA, 6-1 UFC)Β at the Meta APEX in Las Vegas when referee Dan Miragliotta stood him up from back control in the second round. He got hurt with punches soon after, then was stopped with strikes minutes into the third round.
The timing of Miragliotta's stand-up, after more than seven minutes of control time to that point for Moicano, has been a point of contention in the aftermath of the event. Fans and fighters alike have expressed outrage at the veteran referee because of his choice to intervene and reset a dominant position, and Moicano admits it's confused him, as well.
"I was a little frustrated with the referee standing the fight up," Moicano told MMA Fighting. "I was a little frustrated, and frustration is a bad thing. But that's it. It's over. What can I do? There's nothing I can do about it. It caught me by surprise. When he said, 'Stand up,' I don't remember him giving any warnings. And even if he had given a warning, I saw lot of people saying that it's in the rules, that it's a new rule. I've never heard of that. I've never heard of anyone being stood up from mount or from someone's back. It was the first time I'd ever seen it.
"I was surprised, but I decided to keep going because I thought, 'Man, what can I do?' I thought about complaining, but then I told myself, 'Listen, focus on the fight.' But I clearly lost my focus. I was clearly frustrated, and I got caught with some shots afterwards. I came back for the third round and I wasn't in a good place, but that's it. There's not much else to say. It was the wrong decision, but it's not going to change anything. I lost. That's it."
Moicano, 37, said his team will not file an appeal to the Nevada State Athletic Commission and he didn't appear eager to smear Miragliotta's name. Moicano is not happy with Miragliotta, but he is putting the onus of the final result on himself and not anyone else.
"I want him to go f*ck himself and everyone else," Moicano said. "l don't give a sh*t. The next person I need to blame is myself. I should have finished that guy. That's the truth. I'm better than that guy, but he defended well. He has good defense. I'm not going to blame the referee, even though, like I said, that change frustrated me. There's nothing I can do about it. I'm not going to file any complaint. I just need to focus on improving myself for my next fights."
