Tom Nolan wants Mateusz Gamrot next.
Nolan knocked out Renato Moicano at UFC Vegas 123, and once the reporters got to him afterward he put Gamrot’s name on the table. Gamrot is one of the highest-ranked and most respected lightweights in the division. The win over Moicano was Nolan’s sixth straight inside the Octagon, and it pushes him toward the top of a division that doesn’t hand out spots up there easily.
He managed the callout without any trash talk, which I appreciate. Nolan named the guy, gave his reasons, and then admitted he doesn’t book the fights.
“I think (Mateusz) Gamrot would be a fun one. 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. I think they’ll have a plan and they’ll figure something out,” Nolan said, via MMAjunkie.
He also said he didn’t walk into fight week with a callout ready. Moicano was the fight he cared about, and he framed the win as proof to a younger version of himself.
“This was the fight I wanted to perform in and prove to the younger version of myself that I can come out here and beat a giant and I did. Right now, I’m just going to sit in this and enjoy it and we’ll see what happens,” he said.
The stand-up
The finish didn’t come clean, and nobody is pretending it did. Referee Dan Miragliotta stood the fight up while Moicano had back mount, which is about the last position you’d expect a referee to break up. Back on the feet, Moicano got dropped and hurt, and Nolan finished him in the next round.
Heavy, which first published the report Yahoo Sports carried, called it a huge mistake by Miragliotta. Heavy also argued the blame shouldn’t land on Nolan, and that the call probably won’t change how the UFC sees him at 155. The promotion seems to agree. Nolan went home with a $100,000 Performance of the Night bonus, and a company that thought his win was tainted wouldn’t be paying him extra for it.
Moicano is the guy with the real complaint. Giving up back mount to a referee’s decision and then getting stopped is a brutal way to lose. Nolan can’t answer for any of that, though. A referee told both men to stand up, they did, and Nolan threw better punches once they were standing.
Quick take
I like the callout and I like how he made it. Nolan picked a top guy, said why the style matchup interests him, and admitted the UFC will decide anyway. That’s about as straight an answer as you get from somebody whose adrenaline is still pouring out of his ears. Six in a row plus a bonus check gets you a ranked name, and Gamrot is a real test, not a gift. The Moicano stand-up will follow Nolan into every interview until he beats someone without a referee asterisk next to the result. Gamrot would settle that one way or the other, and I’d book it tomorrow.
