Tom Nolan denies asking for stand-up, eyes Gamrot as Moicano owns 'terrible performance' after UFC Vegas 123

Tom Nolan says he never asked referee Dan Miragliotta to stand up his fight with Renato Moicano, and he has named Mateusz Gamrot as a "fun" next opponent after his third-round TKO win in the UFC Vegas 123 main event on Saturday, October 31, at Meta APEX in Las Vegas. Moicano, for his part, did not blame the referee and called his own showing a "terrible performance".

The official result is a TKO at 1:28 of round 3, according to the UFC, MMA Junkie and Sherdog. UFC.com lists the method as TKO (punches and elbows); MMA Junkie lists it as TKO (punches).

The stand-up

According to UFC.com and MMA Fighting, Moicano took Nolan down in the first round and hunted a rear-naked choke from his back. In round 2 he dragged Nolan down again and locked a body triangle, and Miragliotta then stood the fighters up. Nolan dropped Moicano soon after, hurt him early in round 3, reversed a takedown into top position and finished him with strikes.

MMA Fighting called the stand-up "arguably the most controversial officiating call of the year". UFC lightweight Terrance McKinney wrote on X: "He capitalized, but the ref won that one." Ariel Helwani posted that it was "top 5 worst ref standups of all time".

Nolan: "It's not my fault"

At the post-fight news conference, Nolan told MMA Junkie and other reporters that he had tried to get the referee's attention for a different reason.

"To be clear, when I was talking to the ref, I wasn't asking for a standup," Nolan said, according to MMA Junkie. "He was punching me in the back of the head. I was just telling the ref." He added: "I wasn't looking for a standup. I had five rounds to work. If I had lost that round because he was on my back, I was completely comfortable with that. I had nothing to do with the ref standing it up. It's not my fault."

He also said he simply followed instructions: "The ref said, 'Stand up,' so I stood up."

Gamrot named as a possible next fight

Asked about his next step, Nolan pointed to Mateusz Gamrot. "I think Gamrot would be a fun one," he said, according to MMA Junkie. "I think that would bring the best version of me out in my camp. I think that's stylistically a fun fight. But also, the UFC will tell me." No fight has been offered or booked.

According to Sherdog, Nolan is now 12-1 overall and 6-1 in the UFC, with six wins in a row. It was his first UFC main event. Moicano, ranked No. 14 at lightweight on UFC.com before the fight, drops to 21-8-1 and 13-8 in the UFC.

Moicano: "I had a terrible performance"

Moicano reacted on X shortly after the fight. "Congrats Tom Nolan you're a beast!" he wrote. In a second post in Portuguese, he thanked fans and said, in translation, that he had a terrible performance, was well trained, got the takedown and the back, but could not do any damage because Nolan was defending well. MMA Junkie summed it up as Moicano making "no excuses". Neither post mentions Miragliotta's call, and no protest or appeal to the Nevada Athletic Commission has been reported.

Before the fight, Moicano told MMA Fighting that this was one of three bouts left on his UFC contract and that he "would like to be a free agent".

Bonuses

The UFC confirmed $100,000 Performance of the Night bonuses for Nolan, Julian Erosa, Joe Kropschot and Lucia Szabova. Erosa retired in the cage after his first-round knockout of JeongYeong Lee.

UFC Vegas 123 main card results

Results per MMA Junkie:

• Tom Nolan def. Renato Moicano via TKO (punches), Round 3, 1:28
• Jacobe Smith def. Randy Brown via unanimous decision (30-26, 30-26, 30-26)
• Cody Durden def. Ode' Osbourne via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)
• Luana Santos def. Yana Santos via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)
• Jean-Paul Lebosnoyani def. Farman Hasanov via TKO (doctor's stoppage due to cut), Round 3, 2:11
• Dakota Hope def. Francis Marshall via split decision (28-29, 29-28, 29-28)