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Dan Miragliotta is considered to be one of the most respected referees in all of mixed martial arts, but bantamweight champion Aljamain Sterling is not a fan.
While there is no referee in MMA that has escaped controversy on some level, Miragliotta has been long considered one of the most reputable officials in the sport, having worked with the UFC as far back as 2007. Like every ref, he has had some questionable stoppages, even as recently as UFC 277, but he has not been the subject of much more controversy than that.
Aljamain Sterling Goes After Dan Miragliotta
While Dan Miragliotta has never actually refereed any of the fights that UFC bantamweight champion Aljamain Sterling has had in his pro career, “Funkmaster” does not seem to care for the demeanor of Miragliotta.
Speaking in a video on his YouTube channel, the 135lb king made it clear that he has a dislike for the smirk that Miragliotta seems to always have on his face when refereeing or stopping bouts, feeling that it can come across as disrespectful to a fighter that just got beat.
“If you look at (Miragliotta), when he’s refereeing he’s always got this, like, smirk that kind of seems, like, I don’t want to say condescending, but it’s almost, like, patronizing. I don’t know, I don’t know. I just feel like that smirk… I just don’t like he always has on this… Like, he’ll stop the fight and he’s kind of like ‘Yeah, buddy you got fucked up,” Sterling said.
It is fascinating that Aljamain Sterling is not a fan of Dan Miragliotta, despite not ever having any firsthand experience with him as a referee. Nevertheless, this is an interesting perspective to hear, and it would be intriguing to see if any other fighters feel the same.
What are your thoughts on Aljamain Sterling’s comments?