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UFC light heavyweight Dustin Jacoby walked out of his most recent fight against Julius Walker with an impressive second-round TKO. But he also walked out with a potentially torn meniscus, and he claims referee Dan Miragliotta is to blame.
Jacoby, who won his third straight fight on Feb. 7 against Walker, claims that Miragliotta mistakenly stepped in to stop the fight, only to claim that he did not do so.
That caused Jacoby to spring back into action and allegedly tear his meniscus in the process.
THAT WILL DO IT 👏
Dustin Jacoby gets the finish in RD 2!
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— UFC on Paramount+ (@UFConParamount) February 8, 2026
“I’ve had Dan several times, and I’ve always had good luck with him,” Jacoby told MMA Fighting. “So I can’t complain. What I will say, when I dropped Julius that first time, he came in, and he touched me with his chest, and he waved his arm briefly, his left arm.
“So at that moment, I’m like you just stopped the fight! He backed up, and he’s like ‘I didn’t stop the fight.’ I was like, ‘You touched me!’ He goes, ‘I didn’t f—ng touch you, keep fighting.’ So at that moment, Julius had grabbed my leg pretty hard. While I’m arguing with Dan, I go to pull my leg out, and I actually kind of tweaked my knee.
Jacoby doesn’t know the full extent of the damage to his knee. But he said he’s torn his meniscus before, and this felt similar. Now, he has to sit back and wait for the MRI results.
“I had to go get an MRI yesterday. I’m waiting to find out. I may have torn my meniscus again. My left meniscus was torn. I think I tore my right one during that moment right there.”
Injuries are common in MMA. In fact, it’s uncommon for a fighter to walk out of the cage without some sort of ailment. But this is the first we’ve ever heard of a referee being responsible for the damage.