UFC on FOX 24 went down last weekend. The Kansas City, Missouri event saw flyweight champion Demetrious “Mighty Mouse” Johnson defend his belt for the tenth consecutive time. The champion submitted Wilson Reis in the main event.
Another exciting fight on the card was a middleweight match-up. Ultimate Fighting Championship middleweight contenders Robert Whittaker and Ronaldo “Jacare” Souza faced off for division dominance. Whittaker locked on a second round TKO upset victory over his opponent.
Veteran referee Mario Yamasaki has since received some flak from fans for his decision to call the fight. With Souza having not lost by way of KO or TKO since 2008, some people have since questioned if “Jacare” was really down for the count.
In an interview with MMA Fighting, Yamasaki cleared the air. “I re-watched the fight, but I know what I did there, I know what was going on. I was the one in there. Watching on TV, people have a different image than the one I’m seeing in there, and I have to follow the rules. The rules say I have to protect the athlete, and when the fighter is not intelligently defending himself anymore, he’s on autopilot, it will only cause more damage.”
Following up on the topic, He said “I don’t know if you saw it, but ‘Jacare’ went out on the ground, was punched and came back, and ate three more strong elbows and I decided it was better to stop the fight because, in my opinion, Whittaker would only let him come back up to knock him down again and beat him up. To preserve him, who was no longer intelligently defending himself, I decided to stop the fight.
“I talk to a lot of people about Gary Goodridge, Eder Jofre and (Adilson) ‘Maguila’, who suffer from dementia pugilistica, that people don’t know how dangerous is to get unnecessary punches. I’m following my ethic, and also the athletic commission. Everyone from the athletic commission praised me, but fans didn’t like it. They say I don’t like Brazilians, blah blah blah. I’m the referee, I have to follow the rules.”
Finishing up his point of view, Yamasaki explained “Watching on the TV, it might give you the impression that I could have let it go a little longer, but you can’t see his eyes. The TV doesn’t show that. He was hurt. He would only eat more punches, and it was my decision to make sure he was safe since he couldn’t defend himself anymore. Let him go back up to get punched three times and go out, why would that do him any good?”
