Former UFC bantamweight title challenger Valentina Shevchenko made her flyweight debut over the weekend. The fighter faced off against UFC newcomer Priscila Cachoeira for the co-main event of UFC Fight Night 125 on Saturday, Feb. 3.
Shevchenko put on a dominant display over Cachoeira, earning a submission victory in the second round. The dominant performance would earn Shevchenko a UFC record setting striking score of 217-1 that left Cachoeira brutalized from the fighter’s vicious and bloody ground and pound.
UFC President Dana White would later go to social media to criticize the fight’s referee for allowing the match to continue after Cachoeira suffered so much damage from Shevchenko’s strikes. Over Instagram, White stated:
“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.”
UFC’s Al Iaquinta has since decided to criticize the UFC president on allowing the match up to take place at all. After all, Cachoeira made her octagon debut against an experienced former UFC title challenger.
Iquinta first commented on White’s Instagram post by simply stating, “you bully.” The fighter then referenced the devastatingly lopsided odds for the match. “-900 vs. +500 take no blame yourselves,” Iaquinta stated.
Here is a screenshot of the fighter’s statements:
