“Big” John McCarthy disagrees with Dan Miragliotta’s controversial stand-up fight from UFC Vegas 123 on Saturday.
The light main event between veteran Renato Moicano and rising prospect Tom Nolan was a one-way trade for the first and a half. Using Moicano’s uppercuts, Moicano took Nolan’s back early and was locked in a tight body triangle for much of the fight – until referee Miragliotta stopped them mercilessly.
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Nolan immediately caught on with his striking game and finally found a third round stoppage in the pushback of his opponent.
McCarthy, one of the sport’s most subtle ministers, explained what was so wrong when Miragliotta called in the stands on Monday’s “The Ariel Helwani Show.”
“MMA is a sport where you have all these disciplines that you can use,” McCarthy said. “It is not something that is supposed to give an advantage to one style, whether it is an excellent technique or an injected technique. It is supposed to be clear. Renato Moicano came out and it was clear that “I want to take the fight to the ground and I want to wrap my skills around to win” and he did it through each part. He kept it, and he had four body locks.
“I think Dan looked at him and gave him all the time to work with him. Then, when” [the stand-up] But it happened at a certain moment in the second round that he had the same thing – ‘Was it work?’ here is the real question. We often talk about someone who takes a big position – what we call the seatbelt – and just holds it and doesn’t do anything. It is clear to tell them that they need to fight and they are trying to finish, but we cannot ask them to have a better position when it is already in what they can”.
Stand-ups from standing positions are not uncommon in MMA. But the biggest difference is that in this case McCarthy believes Moicano is clearly working and fighting rather than simply being redeemed without regard to dignity or harm.
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“The punches he was throwing weren’t enough to knock Tom Nolan out. We know that,” McCarthy said. “But they could do that one moment where Nolan made a mistake who choked to the edge. Our job as officials is supposed to be fair to both fighters. I don’t care if Renato Moicano or Tom Nolan wins, I care that they both train for their strengths, using skills that are so difficult to achieve, and whoever cuts one skill is the best.
One talking point that was raised about why Miragliotta can stand the fight from such a dominant position was whether he would be swayed by the restless crowd at UFC’s Meta Apex. Although Moicano was working through a series of shots, he wasn’t necessarily close to finishing the fight, McCarthy noted.
As for the scenario and whether it made the fight any less exciting, McCarthy doesn’t think it did.
“I think it’s a matter of looking at him and thinking he’s giving up.” [Moicano] a whole round and another half round with no end, and Tom Nolan grabbed his wrist,” McCarthy said. [Miragliotta] he decided to stand.
Renato Moicano quickly gave way to Tom Nolan after Miragliotta’s controversial suspension.
(Jeff Bottari via Getty Images)
“It’s a real problem, it’s not fair. You gave one fighter a big advantage over another. You created a disadvantage in the fight for Renato Moicano. He put the fight where he wanted it – he had him in a place where he was in the figure four, and it’s up to Tom Nolan to get him out. He’s not in the state to go out and he’s working, but especially with Moicano trying to get him out, especially when Mo. goes down a round or two.
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“You see it, and it’s a beautiful thing,” McCarthy continued. “Often we will take places from the fighters when it is foul, from the fact that we do not want to take a point, but we will take them to punishment, which is the evening road. punishment
“No reason” [to stand them up]in my opinion – and look, I love Dan Miragliotta. He’s a great man, I’ve always gotten along with him, and I think he’s been a fantastic referee for the 27 years he’s done now. This was one of the instances. I think that he should look more to give the judges, to send more, and fan more by seeing, thinking enough not to act enough, when it is not his concern.”
Moicano, 37, suffered a major setback with a loss after a successful comeback win over Chris Duncan in April. He has three fights left on his UFC contract before he intends to weigh his options in free agency and likely leave MMA behind boxing.
Nolan, meanwhile, continues to heat up, extending his winning streak to six in the Octagon.
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In Monday’s appearance, McCarthy cited a position in the middle of the debate — the latter’s position was not Moicano — saying he had never stood a fighter out of a body triangle in his 30-plus-year refereeing career.
McCarthy Charles Oliveira vs. Max Holloway used the rematch from this year as a comparable example of Nolan vs. Mohican In that fight, Oliveira largely dominated Holloway in similar areas for significantly longer periods, going the full five rounds.
So with that in mind, Miragliotta’s mid-match call causes an even deeper controversy – or a potential conspiracy, as McCarthy points out.
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“The UFC doesn’t say officials, ‘Hey, you need to support people.’ That does not happen, but sometimes when, see that you are honest. I am not saying that it affected them in any way, because they were not. But Renato Moicano is a bigger fighter, and the truth is that it’s better for the business to do well with Tom Nolan,” McCarthy said.
“It’s not that they’re sitting there doing anything for this fight in a certain way, but what works best is for Tom Nolan to win the fight. He’s an up-and-coming young fighter so they can do a lot with him. So when you look at it, does it help Tom Nolan? It definitely helped Tom Nolan.”
Ultimately, it’s too late to fix anything now in the Nolan and Moicano cases, and all parties seem to agree.
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“You want to see and understand that Renato knew when he got up I got up that I just arrived. Now, when I say I arrived, he is not inappropriately saying that he is asking, but he knows that he is well on the ground,” said McCarthy. “‘I took this fight to the ground, and now you stand me, and now I’m going to try to survive the level of Tom Nolan, a guy who throws a lot of jumping knees and dangerous techniques.’
“He’s caught, so now Tom Nolan’s not just fighting, he’s fighting himself. He’s thinking in his head, ‘I’ve got two guys to worry about here: I’m worried that the referee is going to get me up again if I take him down.’ when the battle ends.
“So, with everything that happened, you know it all had an effect on the outcome. The UFC, I’m sure they’re happy that Tom Nolan won and I thought it wasn’t a bad thing, but is it fair? That’s my one question.”