Mario Yamasaki News

Tom Taylor - February 19, 2018

On Sunday night, the UFC touched down in Austin, Texas with an exciting night of fights. In the main event, Hawaii’s Yancy Medeiros stepped into the cage with fan favorite finisher Donald “Cowboy” Cerrone. Had Medeiros won this fight, he likely would have surged into the welterweight top-10. Regrettably for the Hawaiian and his fans, he was put down by a cracking Cowboy right hand, and the fight was waved off with just two seconds remaining in the first frame.

Tom Taylor - February 8, 2018

Last weekend, in the co-main event of the UFC’s return to Belem, Brazil’s Priscila Cachoeira was brutalized by the far more experienced Valentina Shevchenko en route to a second-round submission loss. In the wake of this brutal fight, there has been widespread criticism of referee Mario Yamasaki. In the eyes of many fans and pundits, the referee should have stopped the fight much earlier. UFC President Dana White was particularly critical of Yamasaki post-fight. 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. Another unfortunate thing is that i can’t do anything about I️t 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.

Drake Riggs - February 7, 2018

“He’s awful. He’s terrible. This is what’s alarming, ‘I allowed Priscila [Cachoeira] to be a warrior and keep fighting’. That is not your job as a referee. We don’t need you to dictate who’s a warrior and who’s not a warrior. That is not your call. She was in serious trouble and she was so outclassed it’s not even funny. Your job is the safety. I don’t need Mario Yamasaki deciding who’s a warrior or not. Shut the f*ck up and save those fighters so they can continue their career and live to fight another day.

Justin Golightly - February 7, 2018

There has been a lot on mixed opinions and controversy since Valentina Shevchenko’s domination against Priscila Cachoeira at UFC Belem. So much so, that Shevchenko’s amazing performance has taken a back seat to referee and corner criticism. Rose Namajunas has put in many hours with ‘The Bullet’ so she was watching the fight closely. She recently opened up about her thoughts on if they fight should have been stopped or not. If it was her? She definitely would have wanted the towel threw in. “That [late stoppage is] a touchy subject. I think clearly you saw that [Priscila Cachoeira] wasn’t going to improve her position [against Valentina Shevchenko]. So, you could definitely make the argument for that was a little too long.  […] I told my corner [Trevor Whitman] that if I’m lookin’ like that in a fight, the just throw in the towel for me, but that’s my personal choice. Those strikes on the canvas – in certain positions they weren’t that bad – but when you’re in full mount and somebody is raining down punches on you, your head is hitting the canvas too so it’s like double impact.”

Tom Taylor - February 6, 2018

Over the weekend, Brazilian fighter Priscila Cachoeira experienced a brutal beatdown at the hands of Valentina Shevchenko, absorbing a brain-rattling 230 strikes en route to a second-round submission loss. In the wake of this lopsided and bloody contest, many fans, pundits and UFC personalities have argued that referee Mario Yamasaki should have stopped the fight far earlier than he did.

Chris Taylor - February 5, 2018

Mario Yamasaki issues statement following controversial co-main event at UFC Belem. Mixed martial arts referee Mario Yamasaki faced a ton of criticism following his controversial stoppage in the co-main event of last weekend’s UFC Fight Night 125 event in Belem, Brazil.

Tom Taylor - February 4, 2018

Former UFC bantamweight title challenger Valentina Shevchenko could not have been more impressive in her Saturday night flyweight debut, out-landing her opponent Priscila Cachoeira by a 230-3 margin en-route to a second-round submission win. Regrettably, much of the buzz surrounding this fight has been negative, as the widespread perception is that referee Mario Yamasaki let this ugly beatdown fester for far longer than it should have. Among those to trash the referee for his poor officiating was UFC President Dana White.

Tom Taylor - July 25, 2017

On June 25, the UFC touched down in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma with UFC Fight Night 112. In the main event, Kevin Lee and Michael Chiesa went to war in a compelling clash of lightweight contenders. Unfortunately this main event was shrouded in controversy, as Lee locked up a first-round rear-naked choke, but referee Mario Yamasaki stopped the action before Chiesa actually tapped. Since then, Yamasaki has defended his stoppage, while the Oklahoma State Athletic Commission (OSAC) has denied Chiesa’s appeal. Despite this, Chiesa still feels he was shorted, and is harboring quite a bit of resentment against Yamasaki. On Monday’s edition of the MMA Hour, the lightweight even challenged the referee to a September 30 grappling match.

Tom Taylor - February 22, 2017

Last weekend, in the main event of the UFC’s latest trip to Halifax, Nova Scotia, Derrick Lewis scored a thunderous, second-round knockout over the ever-dangerous Travis Browne. With this win, which is arguably the biggest of his career, Lewis extended his win-streak to six, and established himself as a bona fide heavyweight contender. Unfortunately, Lewis’ fight with Browne also produced a small bit of controversy, as referee Mario Yamasaki was quite late in stopping the fight, which gave Lewis time to hit Browne with a few extra sledgehammers.