Tom Nolan Explains Strategy to Survive Renato Moicano's Back Control

Tom Nolan earned the biggest victory of his UFC career at UFC Vegas 123, defeating Renato “Money” Moicano via technical knockout with punches and elbows at 1:28 of the third round in their main event clash.

Speaking to UFC News following the stoppage, Nolan detailed how he prepared to counter Moicano's elite grappling. Across the opening two rounds, Moicano repeatedly secured Nolan's back and threatened rear-naked chokes. Nolan explained that while he trained heavily to escape the Brazilian's body triangle, his backup plan was simply to stay calm and not panic inside the dangerous position.

“I did a lot of work this camp on dealing with his body triangle, but obviously he’s elite there,” Nolan said. “I know that Moicano snatches chokes when people make silly movements. So I was comfortable with, if I have to lose a couple of rounds, I know I'm going to win this on the feet. Um, to be honest, I thought it would even take a little bit longer for that to play out the way it did.”

The tide shifted in the second round after referee Dan Miragliotta made a controversial stand-up while Moicano held back control with a body triangle. Once on the feet, Nolan dropped Moicano and came close to finishing the fight before the horn, ultimately closing the show in the third round.