Valentina Shevchenko Comments On Controversial UFC Belem Bout

This past weekend (Feb. 3, 2018), Valentina Shevchenko defeated Priscila Cachoeira in a flyweight bout in the co-main event of UFC Fight Night 125 from Belem, Brazil.

The bout, which ended in a second-round stoppage victory for “Bullet,” was a one-sided contest and referee Mario Yamasaki has come under fire for not stopping it earlier as Shevchenko out-landed Cachoeira by a gaping.

Shevchenko, however, recently defended Yamasaki, saying that Cachoeira continued to move and try to escape prior to the submission:

“When I am inside of the Octagon, I go there and I will not stop before someone stops me. And (if) I feel that I have to continue, I will continue with all my power,” Shevchenko told Ariel Helwani on this week’s edition of The MMA Hour. “And of course I was feeling that this is a moment, it will end soon. And when Mario, for Priscila, he said, ‘If you do not move, I will stop the fight’ — in this moment, she started trying to escape and do everything.

“Before the last minute, the last second, she was trying to escape, and it doesn’t matter — she was receiving (punches) hard but she was trying to do something. And that moment, I was thinking, okay, if it’s not stopped with just punching, then I went for the submission and I just continued, because in my mind, like a fighter, I have to do everything to finish my fight.”

On the contrary, however, Shevchenko made it clear that she simply did her job, which is to fight, while also crediting Cachoeira for her toughness:

“I’m a fighter. I’m not a referee, I’m not a judge,” Shevchenko said. “I do my job, and the referees and judges, they do their jobs. For example, before the fight, Mario, he came to our changing room and explained the rules, what he will do in case (something happens), and he said, … ‘While you are moving and trying to protect (yourself), I will keep the fight going.’”

“And this is what I think it was in the fight, because Priscila, she had good [heart] and she didn’t want to quit, and she wasn’t laying there and saying, ‘Someone please help me.’ No, she was trying to do something, something every time.”

What do you make of the situation?