Nolan stops for Moicano for sixth straight win

Tom Nolan took advantage of a controversial refereeing decision to claim a third-round TKO win over Renato Moicano in the lightweight main event of a UFC Fight Night at the Meta Apex in Las Vegas on the morning of Sunday 1 November.

Moicano had the Australian in a tough position late in the second round, working with Nolan's back on the ground with a body triangle locked in. As the action slowed, Miragliotta decided to stand the fighters back up – a huge reprieve for Nolan.

They came to collect money 🤑 Tom Nolan, Julian Erosa, Joe Kropschot and Lucia Szabova all get POTN bonuses at #UFCVegas123! [ B2YB @RamTrucks ] https://t.co/bCPUHqSVlD

He then landed a thunderous knee in the ensuing moments that hurt Moicano, nearly finishing him in the closing sequences of the round. It didn't take long into the third for "Big Train" to complete the job.

After landing another knee, Nolan used vicious ground and pound, including massive elbows to Moicano's temple, to put the Brazilian away and secure a sixth successive ‘W’.

When asked if he was surprised that Miragliotta restarted them to standing in that second round, Nolan said he wasn't: "Nah, I mean, you heard the crowd... they didn't love it.”

That winning feeling >>> Tom Nolan walks out of #UFCVegas123 with the WIN 🤩 https://t.co/1gmkEJgHSO — UFC (@ufc) November 1, 2026

He went on to add, “We were confident the later it went, the more I'd be likely to finish him. That's why on the mat I didn't want to risk doing any stupid s*** and getting choked out.

“It might've been boring for you guys for like a couple of minutes, but I ended up knocking him out, so it ended up being f***ing sick."

Nolan then deferred when asked if he wanted to call anybody out: “To be honest, not really. This was the guy I wanted to fight. I made a callout for the fight, and my job was to deliver tonight. This is my job right now, and I performed so, yeah... look, whatever the UFC wants to do with me next."

The rest of the main card saw unanimous decision wins for Jacobe Smith over Randy Brown in the welterweight division; Cody Durden over Ode’ Osbourne at flyweight; and Luana Santos over Yana Santos in the women’s bantamweight bout; while Jean-Paul Lebosnoyani defeated Farman Hasanov via a doctor’s stoppage TKO.

The UFC continues next week with another Fight Night, set for the Meta Apex and headlined by a welterweight bout between Gabriel Bonfim and Sean Brady.

UFC Fight Night – Main card results

- Main event: Lightweight: Tom Nolan def. Renato Moicano via TKO (R3)

- Welterweight: Jacobe Smith def. Randy Brown via unanimous decision (R3)

- Flyweight: Cody Durden def. Ode’ Osbourne via unanimous decision (R3)

- Women’s bantamweight: Luana Santos def.Yana Santos via unanimous decision (R3)

- Welterweight: Jean-Paul Lebosnoyani def. Farman Hasanov via TKO (R3)