Simon Samano, MMA Junkie Tue, November 3, 2026 at 5:10 PM UTC · 3 min read About Our Ads Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement When it comes to being critical of referee Dan Miragliotta's controversial decision in the UFC Fight Night 292 main event, coach Ray Longo holds nothing back.
Miragliotta has come under fire since Tom Nolan's TKO win over Renato Moicano this past Saturday at the Meta APEX in Las Vegas. That's because of what led to the finish .
In the second round, Moicano controlled Nolan on the ground as he held his back with a body triangle and worked for a rear-naked choke submission. But for some reason, Miragliotta made the curious call to reset the fighters on their feet. Moments later, Nolan rocked Moicano with punches to close out the round. The momentum carried over into Round 3 where Nolan secured the win 1:28 into the frame.
Nothing about the circumstances surrounding Nolan's win sits well with Longo.
"I've just never, ever seen anything like that in my life," Longo said on the "Anik & Florian Podcast." "Then you start going down rabbit holes: Was it him? Was he told to do it? The fact that (the UFC) rewarded that guy with a bonus of the night kind of tells me they wanted that. I kind of feel bad for Tom Nolan. I liked him going in; I don't even know if I like him coming out, which is bad. I think he handled it really bad on the mic afterwards. You got gifted something. You couldn't get out. Your answer was to elbow the thigh. Maybe eventually it would've worked, but there were things happening down there.
"Listen, this is why you have to really talk to big Dan. He's a martial artist. He's done jiu-jitsu. What in the f*ck were you thinking?"
Longo did not hold back in wondering if Miragliotta's actions were somehow a byproduct of the UFC – if not directly, then indirectly.
"The UFC has been very outspoken. They want knockouts," Longo said. "That's what they pride themselves on, the exciting fights. This is getting crazy. ...
"I want to know if there was anything from the top that led him to do that. I don't think he's deciding to do that on his own. That's how bad it was. I just can't see it."
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To his point about the UFC's desire for more knockouts, Longo made it clear that it affects his approach to coaching, particularly with fighters on Dana White's Contender Series.
"We know that the UFC, when you hold a guy against the cage, they don't even let you on the Contender Series," Long said. "I tell my guys – you're saying affecting coaching – for the guys that go on the Contender Series, 'You know what they're looking for. If you don't do it, I don't want to hear any complaining.' Now, is that right? I don't want to coach like that. It's not right to me. I want to be an MMA coach and come up with a strategy to get a win, but you can't do that anymore. If you don't fight a certain fight, you're not getting in that organization. … They don't want the grappling. They don't like it."
This article originally appeared on MMA Junkie: Ray Longo goes off on Dan Miragliotta controversy: 'What in the f*ck were you thinking?'
Source: Sports
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