Viewers are divided over the decision that led to Renato Moicano being knocked out by Tom Nolan tonight.

Former lightweight title challenger Moicano looked to be relatively safe in his position on Nolan’s back that he had found in the two rounds of their UFC Vegas 123 main event. He had struggled on the feet throughout the contest, but was able to get the fight to the ground and push for submissions.

However, with Nolan locked in Moicano’s body triangle, Dan Miragliotta decided that there wasn’t enough action towards the end of the second round and stood them up. Moments later, Nolan had landed a flush knee that did enough damage to linger into round three where he got a TKO win.

Tom Nolan knocks out Renato Moicano after controversial referee’s call

For the majority of the first and second rounds, Renato Moicano had managed to survive a clear mismatch on the feet to get Tom Nolan to the ground. He spent a lot of the time on his rival’s back attempting to work into a choke and get the finish.

So it was something of a surprise when Dan Miragliotta decided to stand them up in the second with about 90 seconds to go. From there, Nolan landed a vicious knee that almost forced a stoppage at the end of the round.

Moicano managed to survive, but he was badly hurt and it didn’t take long in the third for Nolan to put him down again and get a ground and pound finish. The 37-year-old’s future now hangs in the balance after three defeats in his last four.

Fans not happy with Dan Miragliotta after UFC Vegas 123 stoppage

The decision to stand them up did not go down well with viewers, who took to Instagram and X to voice their displeasure. Many noted that if they were in Moicano’s shoes, they would ‘be outraged’ by the call as it cost him valuable minutes of control.

Ariel Helwani wrote in the aftermath: “I can’t believe this. Devastating turn of events for Moicano. Instantly flipped the fight. What are we doing?” In a second tweet, he added: “No joke I think this is top five worst ref standups of all time.”

Renowned commentator Ben ‘The Bane’ Davis wrote in a lengthy post on X: “You could say Dan Miragliotta is heavily responsible for Renato Moicano’s loss tonight.

“Standing him up when Moicano has Nolan’s back WITH THE BODY TRIANGLE LOCKED IN – leading to Renato getting pieced up, take exorbitant damage at the end of Round 2, compromising him in the 3rd. Man that is so f—ing atrocious – garbage officiating.”

A number of fans called for the result to be overturned to a No Contest, but there was debate given that Moicano had done little with his near ten minutes of control time.