UFC President Dana White is Furious After Referee Mario Yamasaki Makes Another Dangerous Refereeing Error…
Valentina Shevchenko put in a ferocious performance against Priscila Cachoeira in the co-main event of UFC Belem last night. The Kyrgyzstani fighter made her UFC flyweight debut in style, dominating her Brazilian opponent from start to finish.
Shevchenko is regarded as one of the most technically skilled female fighters in UFC. She’s been beaten twice by bantamweight champion Amanda Nunes – although the result of their rematch is still contentious for many. However, against Cachoeira, there were no doubts as she won by rear-naked choke in the second round. Unfortunately, the result was controversial for another reason.
Most onlookers agree that the fight should never have been allowed to go that far. Referee Mario Yamasaki has come under fire for failing to stop the fight after Cachoeira was powerless to prevent Shevchenko from raining ground and pound down upon her. UFC President Dana White is furious with Yamasaki, for the latest in a long list of poor decisions.
Dangerous Decision
Yamasaki inexplicably chose to allow Shevchenko to continue striking Cachoeira even though she clearly could not defend herself and was taking a lot of damage. Credit to ‘Bullet’ for recognizing this and going for the submission because it prevented her opponent from taking even more unnecessary damage. Even so, Yamasaki was still slow to stop the fighter after Cachoeira tapped.
This isn’t the first time the referee has been called out for poor decision making. There was controversy last year after a stoppage in Kevin Lee’s win over Michael Chiesa, and in his stoppage of Robert Whittaker’s win over Jacare Souza. He has a history and Dana White isn’t happy.
Furious Dana White
White made his feelings clear in a lengthy Instagram post. He wrote:
“Priscilla Cachoeira, you showed so much heart and toughness in that fight. I’m honored to have you fight in the UFC. Unfortunately, the ref is there to protect you and Mario DID NOT do that. This isn’t his first disgusting performance in the octagon.”
He made it clear that if he had his way Yamasaki would never referee at a UFC event again. However, the organisation is powerless to decide, as regional commissions select referees for events.
“Another unfortunate thing is that i can’t do anything about It,” wrote White. “Only the Brazilian commission can and i am hoping after this scary, incompetent showing he hopefully will never set foot in that Octagon again. Strikes landed was 230-3.”
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Fighter’s Safety First
In fairness White has a point. It is the mandate combat sports referees to protect the fighters who are putting their health upon the line. Whether that means ensuring the fighters are observing the rules, or the referee taking responsibility to end a fight that has become ridiculously one-sided, they have to act.
Yamasaki didn’t act when he needed to and now he could pay for it. If he does appear at a UFC event again in the future you can bet that Dana White will have words to say about it. The UFC President is not a happy man right now.
