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Veteran referee Dan Miragliotta has issued an apology to Michael ‘Venom’ Page after his actions towards the fighter at Bellator 227.
After Michael Page’s fight against Richard Kiely, he accused referee Dan Miragliotta of calling him a “piece of s-it”. Miragliotta has now apologised for his actions, admitting he “screwed up.”
Page defeated Kiely by first-round flying knee KO at Bellator 227 this past Friday. Talking to MMA Fighting, Miragliotta admitted Page telling him to “f-ck off” shouldn’t have gotten him that angry.
“I’m not going to say I didn’t say it, but I was wrong for saying it,” Miragliotta said. “I shouldn’t have gotten that angry, but I did. I screwed up.”
“I was pissed, bro,” he continued. “I’m 56 years old. I’m a grown man. I’m older than him. I show respect to everybody. When someone says f*ck off like that to me with disrespect, I lost it. I never should have said what I said. And I know I was wrong.
Miragliotta continued by saying he will never referee Page’s fights again. The referee also expressed his frustration at Page being allowed to tell him to “f-ck off” and not being allowed to do react in anyway to the Brit’s behaviour.
“I’ll never do his fights again, because I can never really look at him and not have that animosity toward him, because I’m not going to let somebody tell me to f*ck off, and there’s nothing I can do, and I’m an official,” Miragliotta said. “It’s not good for me or the sport.”