Moicano Won't Blame the Referee for His Vegas 123 Loss

Renato Moicano lost the UFC Vegas 123 main event on a night when the referee's decision drew more attention than the winner's finish. Afterwards he took the high road, and his own words point at himself, not at the official.

Four fights, one win

Moicano has now gone 1-3 in his last four outings. He plans to fight out his UFC contract and then test free agency. The loss to Tom Nolan adds one more setback to that stretch.

What he said after the loss

Moicano posted a video statement on his YouTube channel, as relayed by MMAFighting.com. He was more upset with his own performance than with referee Dan Miragliotta.

He said he had watched Nolan's videos, thought he would beat him and expected to take his back very easily. He had even expected to be making a celebration video that day.

Plans, he went on, do not always play out the way a fighter wants. Then he asked: "What am I going to do? Get angry at the world? Curse out the referee? Start a war?"

His closing message was about the next step. "Life goes on. There will be other fights. I will get better," he said, adding that it is either win or improve, and that he has a lot to improve on.

The stand-up that decided the main event

The controversy centres on one call. Moicano had the dominant position and was hunting a rear-naked choke when Miragliotta ordered the fighters back to their feet.

Nolan used the reset to stop Moicano. Many fighters took Miragliotta to task, among them Daniel Cormier, who was calling the fight on commentary.

The result was the biggest win of the 26-year-old Nolan's career. It also earned him a Performance of the Night bonus.

Our View

Moicano's restraint keeps the story on the referee and the reaction from fighters rather than on a public feud. The open question is whether any review of the stand-up call follows, since none has been mentioned. Moicano himself says he needs to improve.

Source: BJPenn.com