Mario Yamasaki Defends UFC Belem Performance
This past weekend (Feb. 3, 2018), UFC Fight Night 125 took place from Belem, Brazil.
In the evening’s co-main event, former bantamweight title challenger Valentina Shevchenko took on Priscila Cachoeira in a flyweight bout. The fight ended up being a one-sided showcase for Shevchenko, who won the fight via second round submission.
Up until the time of the stoppage, however, Cachoeira took a plethora of damage, and many have criticized referee Mario Yamasaki for not calling the bout earlier.
In a statement released to MMAFighting.com, Yamasaki defended his performance:
During the second round, I signaled to ‘Pedrita’ that if she didn’t move I’d stop the fight, and every time I’d stop, I told her and she moved to try to escape from the punches. Unfortunately, I also can’t control the number of blows thrown — again, when a fighter is trying to come back she’s game.
Fighters go through times of hard effort and dedication to be there. MMA is a contact sport and no fighter likes his fight to be stopped with no chance to revert the result. In my opinion, I allowed Pedrita to be a warrior and keep fighting. I could have stopped the fight in the second crucifix or in the mount, but she moved the whole time.
I also recognize that I should have stopped when she tapped the first time to the rear-naked choke. I only stopped a few seconds later.
About other people’s opinions, it’s their right to say.
Aside from fans and media members, UFC President Dana White also blasted Yamasaki, saying that he hopes the referee never officiates a UFC contest again.
What do you make of Yamasaki’s explanation?
