Controversy found a home at UFC Fight Night Belem in the form of referee Mario Yamasaki, who apparently though allowing Valentina Shevchenko to batter Priscila Cachoeira into an alternate universe was a solid idea.
While many have already given their thoughts on the allegedly horrendous officiating job done by Yamasaki, a few more have decided to chime in and the first is UFC color commentator Joe Rogan.
“Mario Yamasaki said he gave her the opportunity to, ‘Be a warrior,'” Rogan said on The Joe Rogan Experience. “That’s what he said. That was his take on it. I mean, not just beat up. Did you see the stats? The actual physical striking stats? It was some unbelievably overwhelming number, like one vs. several hundred, in the significant strike department. Like literally, she landed one decent punch. They should have stopped that fight a long time ago. That fight should have been stopped 15 or 20 times.”
Shevchenko earned a second round submission win on that night, which also served as the UFC debut for Cachoeira.
The victorious fighter appeared on The MMA Hour to defend Cachoeira’s coaches, who refused to throw in the towel while their fighter was pummeled unmercifully.
“It’s all about the team, and the fighter and her team. [Throwing in the towel] is not what I was thinking, because if I see from my point of view, I will fight until the end. I will fight until the end. If my corner would be saying, ‘We’ll throw the towel,’ I would say, ‘No, no, I don’t want (that).’ Because I think this is the nature of the fighter, because he or she, we want to leave from us everything (in the cage) until the very, very end point.”
Cachoeira also suffered a serious knee injury at the event that will require surgery, it is unknown just how long she’ll be out of action.
