Renato Moicano understands referee Chris Tognoni, but believes ref made a mistake in Fiziev stoppage

[KazDibiase]

Renato Moicano lost to Rafael Fiziev in the preliminary portion of UFC 256 in Las Vegas.
Zuffa LLC via Getty Images

Rafael Fiziev stopped Renato Moicano with a beautiful combination at UFC 256 on Dec. 12 in Las Vegas, but Moicano disagrees with the stoppage

The Brazilian immediately complained to referee Chris Tognoni after his loss, which gave Fiziev his third straight victory inside the octagon. Speaking with MMA Fighting on Monday, Moicano said he was good to continue fighting after the knockdown.

“I think he made a mistake, because if you look closely, I also re-watched the fight, I was doing guard,” Moicano said. “I was in closed guard, starting to work already, and the referee jumped the gun. I understand him – it’s not easy to come here and criticize the referee and say he’s wrong because I got hit twice and went down, so his first reaction is to protect [the fighter], but this is a MMA fight.

“I was dropped before, continued fighting and won. That happened more than once in my career in Brazil. I’m not saying that’s what would have happened, but the truth is I was ready. I knew that was a possibility, and I’m a well-trained fighter on the ground. In my opinion the referee made a mistake [and] he should have let it continue. But at the same time, I understand it because referees are stopping it early every time more now.”

Moicano takes blame for the loss. He said he did not follow the strategy his team had prepared for his bout, getting too excited and choosing to stand and trade with Fiziev. Watching the replay, however, the Brazilian lightweight disputes the idea that he went out when Fiziev landed a combination and he woke back up when he hit his head on the ground.

“I didn’t feel that way – I felt on the entire time,” Moicano said. “I felt I lost the leg, but didn’t lose consciousness at any time — at least that I remember. It’s hard to say, of course. You’ll watch the video and see I got hit and felt it and went down, but I was protecting myself the entire time.”

Moicano dropped to 1-3 in his last four octagon appearances with all his losses coming by way of stoppage in bout against Jose Aldo, Chan Sung Jung and Fiziev. He plans on coming back to action “as soon as my medical suspension is over,” he said, but rules out a return to the featherweight division, where he got his start in the octagon.



https://www.mmafighting.com/platfor...&utm_source=twitter&__twitter_impression=true

 

[13Seconds]

Well Moicano made a mistake in being waay to comftorable on the feet.

 

[Dreyga Hates You Sherbums]

Anybody have a gif of of him falling down as he was trying to stand up???

He was CLEARLY DONE

 

[Kryptt]

Like I said in the PBP...I think he was staggered but still aware. He spun in to active defense immediately and wasn't rubber twitch with his limbs.

Ref felt he saw enough...oh well...

 

[Franklin U.]

an absolute early stoppage - referee saving him from further nasty damage is what is debatable.
" debatable "

I've watched a few times and I don't know what I would've done so I'm ok with the call.

 

[13Seconds]

an absolute early stoppage - referee saving him from further nasty damage is what is debatable.
" debatable "

I've watched a few times and I don't know what I would've done so I'm ok with the call.

Watching Moicano's head bounce off the ground like that must've been it for the referee. If he would've landed on his arm or something he would've continued.

 

[Motivated BJ Penn]

He was clearly out in the air for a second there. Looked like he was done

 

[GrantB13]

Early. Give a guy a chance.

 

[Franklin U.]

Watching Moicano's head bounce off the ground like that must've been it for the referee. If he would've landed on his arm or something he would've continued.

No problem, either way. If he went limp( for a millisecond)or his pupils went north then I rescue.... tough call -

 

[Huligani]

I understand it too. The way Moicano fell made it look like he was totally out and stiff as a board, but he started reacting once he hit the ground. The ref already decided to call the fight based on the way he was falling, so Moicano was never given the opportunity to defend himself like he should have.

Similarly, the way Cheick Kongo fell against Pat Barry indicated that he was unconscious, several times in fact. But the ref let him defend himself since he started reacting as soon as he hit the ground like Moicano did.

 

[7 others]

Think it was either john or herb who said something about refs looking at the way fighters fall when they got dropped..

They said if one were to fall, basic instincts will be to post on their arms when they fall.. if they did not do that, it might mean they are too out of it

But then yet again we saw some fighters who fell like trees but werent fully out

 

[Kdup]

What’s lost here with the early stoppage argument, is the beauty of FiZievs standup. Will be interesting to see as he climbs the ladder how he will fare. Future top 5 and contender imo.

 

[Jorge Luis Borges]

Watching Moicano's head bounce off the ground like that must've been it for the referee. If he would've landed on his arm or something he would've continued.

I agree with this. With most stoppages there's a full second or so between the ref deciding to stop and actually physically intervening. Sometimes when a fighter snaps back to consciousness after being briefly unconscious, the ref is already moving in to stop it and so the last thing the fan sees is a sweep attempt or something. But really, the fight was over before that even happened.

Moicano fell and his head bounced off the canvas like he was out cold. That was the end of the fight imo. Everything subsequent to that happened after the ref already made up his mind.

 

[omawho402]

I think it was an early stop. I don't think most people would be ok with this if it was a championship fight

 

[KazDibiase]

Anybody have a gif of of him falling down as he was trying to stand up???

He was CLEARLY DONE

 

[Dreyga Hates You Sherbums]

Thx Sherbro

 

[Wand claude van-damme]

After he hits the ground, he seems to recover good enough to justify to continue a little longer. His head hit pretty free and hard though so you can't really blame the ref either. If the fight continues i think Fiziev still gets the stoppage within moments of the knockdown..

 

[Wand claude van-damme]

Done son!!

 

[fortheo]

Anybody have a gif of of him falling down as he was trying to stand up???

He was CLEARLY DONE

Doesn't matter. You can fight on the ground in MMA, which is where the fight was when it was stopped. He was establishing wrist control and working a knee shield when the fight was stopped. Plenty of fighters recover from being on wobbly legs.

 

[Kdup]

After he hits the ground, he seems to recover good enough to justify to continue a little longer. His head hit pretty free and hard though so you can't really blame the ref either. If the fight continues i think Fiziev still gets the stoppage within moments of the knockdown..

But at the same time Fiziev was laying into him and he apparently hits pretty fucking hard. Not sure if he was coming back either way.