Coach Longo questions whether UFC pressured referee into controversial standup at Vegas 123

Veteran MMA coach Ray Longo has raised serious questions about whether UFC management played a role in referee Dan Miragliotta’s controversial standup call during the UFC Vegas 123 main event between Renato Moicano and Tom Nolan, suggesting the promotion’s preference for action-heavy fights may be shaping officiating decisions.

Miragliotta’s intervention came while Moicano was attacking Nolan from back control. The standup reset the fight on the feet, where Nolan rocked Moicano with a knee in the closing moments of the second round before finishing him in the third — a sixth consecutive victory that also earned Nolan a $100,000 Performance of the Night bonus.

Speaking on the Anik & Florian Podcast, Longo said he could not believe Miragliotta had acted independently. “I want to know if Dan, there was anything from the top that led him to do that,” Longo said. “I don’t think he’s deciding to do that on his own, that’s how bad it was. I just can’t see it.”

Longo went further, arguing that the UFC’s known preference for aggressive, stand-up fighting already filters into how coaches prepare fighters for opportunities in the organisation. “We know that the UFC, when you hold a guy against the cage, they don’t even let you on the Contender Series,” he said. “If you don’t fight a certain fight, you’re not getting in that organization.”

The veteran coach acknowledged that adapting to the UFC’s preferred style conflicts with his own coaching philosophy. “I want to be an MMA coach and come up with a strategy to get a win, but you can’t do that anymore,” he said.

Longo also took aim at how the broadcast handled the moment, noting that cageside analyst Daniel Cormier criticised Miragliotta’s decision live but then attempted to redirect attention toward Nolan’s performance. Longo viewed that as insufficient. “He did try, but to say, ‘I don’t want to make it about Moicano, make it more about Tom’ — no, the guy got gifted something,” Longo said, adding that sustained pressure, rather than a single broadcast mention, is what drives meaningful change in officiating standards.

Nolan himself later defended the outcome, claiming the result would have been the same regardless of the standup. Longo disagreed with that framing and said the controversy ultimately diminished his ability to appreciate Nolan’s performance. He also wished Nolan had been more candid in acknowledging the officiating assist rather than dismissing its significance.