Moicano blames himself after controversial stand-up call costs him UFC Vegas 123 main event

Renato Moicano suffered a third-round ground-and-pound stoppage at the hands of Tom Nolan in the main event of UFC Vegas 123 on Saturday at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas, with referee Dan Miragliotta’s mid-round stand-up call drawing immediate scrutiny from fighters and fans alike.

Moicano (21-8-1) controlled the opening two rounds through grappling, but the fight turned in the second when Miragliotta ordered both men to their feet while Moicano held Nolan’s back — a position widely considered one of the most dominant in MMA. Nolan (12-1) capitalised on the restart, hurting Moicano late in the round before finishing him with ground and pound at 1:28 of the third.

Despite his frustration with the officiating, Moicano was unsparing in his self-criticism when speaking to MMA Fighting after the bout. “I was a little frustrated with the referee standing the fight up,” he said. “It caught me by surprise when he said, ‘Stand up.’ I don’t remember him giving me any warnings… I have never heard of anyone being stood up from mount or from someone’s back.”

He acknowledged that his reaction to the stand-up ultimately cost him the fight. “I clearly lost focus, I was clearly frustrated, and I got caught with some shots afterward.”

Moicano did not hold back in expressing his feelings toward Miragliotta, but made clear he would not be pursuing any formal remedy. “I want him to go fck himself, him and everyone else,” he said. “I don’t give a sht. 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… I’m not going to file any complaint.”

The Brazilian confirmed he has no intention of lodging an appeal with the Nevada Athletic Commission, instead framing the defeat as a failure to convert his grappling dominance into a finish.

The loss leaves Moicano with three defeats in his last four outings, a difficult stretch for a fighter who had been positioning himself as a legitimate lightweight contender. Nolan, by contrast, has now won six consecutive bouts since his sole professional loss — a defeat on his UFC debut in 2024 — and announced himself as a serious name in the 155-pound division with the biggest win of his career.