Valentina Shevchenko and Priscila Cachoeira put on a bloody fight over the weekend, with Cachoeira suffering a brutal loss in their UFC Fight Night 125 co-headliner. Now referee Mario Yamasaki has come forward with a statement on the controversial match up.
In a statement provided by MMA Fighting, Yamasaki said:
“During the second round, I signaled to ‘Pedrita’ that if she didn’t move I’d stop the fight, and every time I’d stop, I told her and she moved to try to escape from the punches. Unfortunately, I also can’t control the number of blows thrown — again, when a fighter is trying to come back she’s game.
“Fighters go through times of hard effort and dedication to be there. MMA is a contact sport and no fighter likes his fight to be stopped with no chance to revert the result. In my opinion, I allowed Pedrita to be a warrior and keep fighting. I could have stopped the fight in the second crucifix or in the mount, but she moved the whole time.
“I also recognize that I should have stopped when she tapped the first time to the rear-naked choke. I only stopped a few seconds later.
“About other people’s opinions, it’s their right to say.”
