Disgraced Referee Mario Yamasaki Looks Back On A Year Without UFC
We haven’t seen nor heard much from disgraced veteran referee Mario Yamasaki in the past year.
And for good reason. Yamasaki was the presiding
Cachoeira was battered from the opening bell by the much more experienced Shevchenko. Most thought the bout should have been stopped at many junctures, but for some reason Yamasaki let her ‘fight’ on. There were many sides to blame here, however.
The UFC was to blame for booking a ridiculous mismatch featuring a debuting fighter vs. a woman who had just come off of a title shot up a weight class. Cachoeira’s corner did her no favors by refusing to acknowledge the knee injury she suffered early in the fight. They also refused to throw in the towel. Finally, the Brazilian MMA Athletic Commission (CABMMA) could have been to blame for sanctioning such a squash match.
Looking To Re-Apply
But when it got to the point it did, the only man who had control over the outcome was Yamasaki. And he put forth arguably his worst effort in a career full of questionable officiating decisions. UFC President Dana White was livid, screaming that Yamasaki would never ref another UFC fight again. And he has not since. Speaking up about the last year to MMA Fighting, Yamasaki said he didn’t even apply for any commissions. Instead, he took a year off to ‘relax and reset.’ Now that he has, he will re-apply this year:
”I ended up focusing on other jobs and didn’t apply to any athletic commission after that fight because Dana would keep coming after me. I decided to take a year off to relax and reset, I think I’ll apply to an athletic commission again this year and come back after relaxing for a year.”
Implying that he needed to ‘relax’ from the backlash of letting an obviously overmatched fighter get beaten into a pulp is a bit of a selfish statement, it would seem. Yamasaki is not the victim here – that role lies solely on Cachoeira. Yamasaki said he reached out to Vice President of Regulatory Affairs of UFC, Marc Ratner, “to see the possibilities, what do I have to
Admits His Mistake
But if that request falls on deaf ears, Yamasaki will know why. He admitted he failed to stop the fight when he should have:
”I think I really could have stopped it earlier,” he said. “It was a mistake.”
Yamasaki also drew fire when he claimed he was letting Cachoeira ‘be a warrior’ in a post-fight statement after UFC Belem. He claims he was misinterpreted and that Cachoeira ‘defended herself’ when he asked. Ultimately he knows it was his fault though:
”I was misinterpreted because, first, I had a public relations that asked me to say that, but it’s not what I really meant,” Yamasaki said. “I told ‘Pedrita’ in the locker room that I wouldn’t stop the fight if she was defending herself. She moved every time I said I was going to stop the fight, but I really should have stopped it earlier so it wouldn’t have [been] controversial. It was no one else’s fault but me.”
Passing The Blame
Yamasaki left the PR company who represented him shortly thereafter. Yamasaki claims he has nothing bad to say about the UFC during his time watching the evolution of the sport of MMA. He even said White has been good to him overall:
”I was doing an overview of my career and I have nothing but good things to say about the UFC and everything that happened in my life,” Yamasaki said. “We never imagined that the sport would get to this point and I would get to this point. Being in the UFC for 20 years, and jiu-jitsu and MMA before that. Dana has been good to me, despite other controversies. It’s 20 years… I started in the UFC before he did, and we always got along.”
Lessons Learned?
Overall, the controversial official admitted he had made mistakes in the cage when he wasn’t as focused as he could be. His questionable submission call on Michael Chiesa came to mind, and he stuck up for his decision:
”I think it’s a lesson for me that sometimes we’re not focused and things happen. The fights that were controversial, I wasn’t as focused as I usually am. It’s lessons you learn in life. But I can’t complain. I think (Michael) Chiesa is an excellent fighter. That happened, I think he [went out], he says he didn’t, but I don’t think that will stay in everyone’s memories… but people always tend to remember the bad moments. If that’s the case, what can I do?”
Yamasaki seems to be somewhat accepting of the blame for his many mistakes, but he does passively assign it to others as well. Of course he’ll be remembered for his mistakes, because fighters’ health, careers, and well-beings are on the line when he loses focus.
His job as an official is not one that’s forgiving to making momentary lapses inside the Octagon. With that in mind, don’t be surprised if you don’t see him in the UFC Octagon anytime soon – or ever again.
