Dana White doesn’t want Mario Yamasaki to referee any more UFC fights after ‘disgusting’ showing at UFC Belem

If it were up to Dana White, Mario Yamasaki would never referee another UFC fight again.

The UFC president took to social media to slam Yamasaki for what many thought was an egregiously late stoppage in the UFC Belem co-main event fight between Valentina Shevchenko and Priscila Cachoeira on Saturday night in Brazil.

Shevchenko landed literally hundreds of unanswered blows to Cachoeira’s head while in a dominant position on the ground. In total, Shevchenko landed 230 strikes to Cachoeira’s three, per FightMetric. Yamasaki had ample opportunity to end the fight in the third round with Cachoeira essentially defenseless, but he waited for Shevchenko to lock in a choke and Cachoeira to tap out.

“I’m honored to have you fight in the UFC,” White wrote in the post, addressing Cachoeira. “Unfortunately the ref is there to protect you and Mario DID NOT do that. This isn’t his first disgusting performance in the octagon.”

White lambasted Yamasaki last June for a questionable stoppage in a fight between Kevin Lee and Michael Chiesa in Oklahoma City. Lee locked in a rear-naked choke and Yamasaki called off the bout before Chiesa tapped. Yamasaki argued that Chiesa stopped defending and looked to be doing limp. Chiesa claimed otherwise, but his appeal with the Oklahoma State Athletic Commission was denied.

On Saturday, White made it very clear that he’d prefer Yamasaki stay far away from the UFC.

“I am hoping after this scary, incompetent showing he hopefully will never set foot in that Octagon again,” White wrote.