Did referee Dan Miragliotta coach Stefan Struve into staying in his TKO loss to Ben Rothwell after two low blows?

The clash of heavyweight veterans on the main card of UFC on ESPN 7 ended in controversy after Ben Rothwell finished Stefan Struve with a second-round TKO.

The actual finishing sequence itself was clear enough, and Rothwell (37-12 MMA, 7-6 UFC) picked up a crucial stoppage victory to snap a three-fight losing skid. But the scenes that preceded “Big Ben’s” finishing flurry have led to some debate about the role referee Dan Miragliotta played in the trajectory of the matchup.

Rothwell already had landed a solid shot to Struve’s cup in Round 1, forcing the 7-foot-tall Dutchman to use almost all of the five-minute injury timeout allocation before Miragliotta issued a warning to Rothwell and the fight resumed.

But when Rothwell caught Struve (29-12 MMA, 13-10 UFC) low again in Round 2, Struve was left sitting against the cage fence contemplating whether to continue in the fight.

Miragliotta went to Struve and appeared to offer him some advice regarding his situation within the bout.

“It was unintentional … but I’m taking a point away no matter what because of the first one,” Miragliotta told Struve, who was sitting on the canvas with his back against the fence. “I’m taking a point away. It’s not two (completed) rounds yet. You’re probably winning both rounds. If you don’t continue, it’s going to be a no contest. Last (through) this second round and see how you do. … You have two and a half minutes left for recovery time.”

When Miragliotta took the point away from Rothwell moments later, he told Rothwell if he landed another low kick, he would be disqualified.

Play-by-play voice Jon Anik said on the broadcast that Miragliotta was covering up his microphone when he was talking to Struve, though that could not be seen from ESPN’s main camera angle. Miragliotta did attempt to cover his microphone seconds later when he asked the timekeeper how much longer Struve had in his second low-blow recovery timeout.

The sight of a referee advising a fighter over whether or not to stay in a fight or pull out hurt certainly seemed an unusual one to broadcast analysts and UFC fighters Daniel Cormier and Paul Felder, who showed their surprise in their on-air comments.

Unfortunately for Struve, his decision to continue in the fight ended with things going from bad to worse when Rothwell stopped the still compromised “Skyscraper” with three seconds to go in the round.

“That’s unfortunate to hear the ref had said that, because he’s basically repeating what (Struve’s) cornermen are telling him,” Rothwell told reporters backstage after the fight.

Was Miragliotta simply doing his job and advising Struve of his situation, or did he overstep the mark by offering his scoring of the fight and some advice? Let us know in the poll below.