Renato Moicano Won't Blame Tom Nolan, Says He Will Keep Fighting After UFC Vegas 123

Renato Moicano could have spent Sunday blaming referee Dan Miragliotta for the most disputed moment of UFC Vegas 123. He did not.

Hours after Tom Nolan stopped him in the third round, Moicano sat in a Las Vegas hotel room with bruising under both eyes and recorded a 17-minute message for his YouTube audience. He said he had been checked at a hospital, had no cuts and was doing well. Then he addressed the stand-up that changed the fight without putting any of it on Nolan.

"First of all, I want to congratulate Tom Nolan and say that he is not responsible for the reset in any way," Moicano said in comments translated by MMA Fighting. "He went out there and did his job."

That distinction matters. The referee's call can be criticized without turning the winner into the culprit.

The reset remains hard to explain

Moicano had Nolan's back late in Round 2 with a body triangle locked. He was hand-fighting, punching and looking for a rear-naked choke when Miragliotta stopped the ground action and ordered both men to stand. The UFC's own recap described the decision as surprising.

Nolan immediately made use of the reset. He hurt Moicano with a knee and nearly finished him before the horn. In Round 3, Moicano completed another takedown, but Nolan reversed position and ended the fight with punches and elbows at 1:28.

That sequence leaves two separate questions. Miragliotta's decision deserves scrutiny because he removed Moicano from a dominant position. Nolan's finish still counts because he had to land the knee, survive another takedown and produce the stoppage himself.

Nolan offered the same separation in his post-fight media session. He said he had been alerting Miragliotta to punches he believed were landing on the back of his head, not asking to be stood up.

"I had nothing to do with the ref standing it up," Nolan said. "I'm in the middle of a fight; I just did what I was told."

Moicano agreed with him on that much. He said Nolan was clearly better on the feet and gave credit to the Australian's submission defense. Moicano still believes he is the better grappler, but he admitted that getting to Nolan's back was not enough.

Moicano took the loss in very Moicano fashion

The video was not a polished apology or a tidy sportsmanship speech. Moicano congratulated Nolan, praised his defense, then joked that he still thinks Nolan is bad.

It sounded contradictory because Moicano usually does. Beneath the joke was a blunt assessment of his own performance. He expected to take Nolan down and submit him early. Instead, Nolan defended the back position for long stretches, found his offense on the feet and punished a tired takedown in the third.

"He trained his ass off and put up an excellent defense," Moicano said. "What can we do? Thank him, congratulate him, get better for next time."

Moicano also resisted the easy story that the referee cost him a guaranteed victory. He said he had not made his attacks effective enough while he controlled Nolan's back. That does not excuse the stand-up. It does acknowledge that dominant position and a finished submission are different things.

FightPulse's fight recap noted the same split in the result: Moicano controlled much of the first two rounds, while Nolan created the damage that decided the fight.

There is no retirement announcement

Moicano's record fell to 21-8-1, and he has now lost three of his last four. He said before UFC Vegas 123 that he had two fights left on his UFC contract and intended to test free agency after completing it. The loss did not change his plan into a retirement speech.

He said he expects to take some time before returning because he has technical work to do and family commitments ahead. He also made it clear that he wants to fight again.

"Life goes on. There will be other fights. I will get better," Moicano said. "I have a lot to improve on."

The bruises made that message look less like a slogan. Moicano recorded it after a hospital visit, with the disappointment still fresh and no attempt to hide what Nolan's striking had done.

The officiating argument will not disappear, nor should it. A referee should not take away back control with a body triangle while the fighter on top is working. But both men have now rejected the idea that Nolan caused the reset. Miragliotta made the call. Nolan took the opening. Moicano lost, owned his mistakes and said he plans to come back.