Dan Miragliotta was the name on everyone’s lips when Kubrat Pulev became the first heavyweight champion in Triller’s controversial Triad Combat.
The Bulgarian Brute was far too much for the hapless and mainly retired Frank Mir as Pulev piled on the press in round one.
Triller has since come under fire for their matchmaking of the fight in the first place. But shockingly enough, that wasn’t the worst thing about this fight.
Miragliotta was.
His incompetence in stopping the fight got branded ‘dangerous’ and ‘life-threatening’ in the time since. The official came out to defend himself.
Speaking to MMA Fighting, he tried in vain to explain what happened in a reasonable and understanding way.
What Miragliotta seemed to do was blame Pulev for not going for the finish. What Pulev did do was the referee’s job as he knew Mir was out of it.
The former world heavyweight title challenger backed away, knocking that Mir was out on his feet. He then urged Miragliotta to stop the fight.
Nonetheless, here’s how the ref saw it.
“I was waiting for Pulev to come in,” Miragliotta told MMA Fighting. “That would have made it so much easier for me.
“As soon as he would have made one step as if he was attacking, I was in a position with my left shoulder and the left side of my body to bump him, push him out, and stop the fight.
“But he didn’t engage – he backed off, and that’s why I kept watching Mir.”
KUBRAT PULEV BACKED OUT
Miragliotta continued: “Then Mir didn’t go down and didn’t put his hands back up – as soon as Pulev made that slight step, I stepped in and stopped the fight. It was easy.
“I didn’t want to allow Pulev to come in and hit him again. But when Pulev backed out.
“I figured Mir has a chance to either go down and take that knee or put his hands up, and he didn’t do either one, so that’s why I stopped it.”
The views expressed in this article are opinions of Phil Jay.
Phil Jay – Editor of World Boxing News since 2010 with over one billion views. Follow WBN on Twitter @WorldBoxingNews.
