UFC welterweight Yancy Medeiros suffered a tough first round knockout loss to Donald Cerrone over the weekend. Now it would appear that the mixed martial artist possibly believes things could have gone differently if referee Mario Yamasaki was the third man inside the octagon that night.
Cerrone and Medeiros went toe-to-toe for the main event of UFC Fight Night 126 on Sunday night, Feb. 18. Cerrone dished out a flurry of strikes that sent Medeiros into the canvas early in the fight. Having seen enough, referee Herb Dean called a stop to the contest.
Speaking to MMA Junkie after the fight, Medeiros joked that things could have gone differently if referee Mario Yamasaki had been inside the octagon.
“Obviously, I know that the ref is there to watch for our safety. Obviously, Herb Dean didn’t see that I was safe enough to continue, so his call. Gotta learn, gotta make my adjustments, and I’ll be back.”
“We had an inside joke with my team, and I’m like ‘F—k, where’s Mario when you needed him?’ But I was just f–king around. (Cowboy) caught me (with) my head on the center line and caught me with that nice punch. It is what it is.”
Mario Yamasaki has been catching some heat as of late for the controversial fight between Valentina Shevchenko and Priscila Cachoeira from UFC Fight Night 125. Shevchenko is a former UFC bantamweight title challenger with battle hardened experience inside the octagon.
Cachoeira, on the other hand, was making her octagon debut against the fighter. Shevchenko brutally pummeled her opponent for a UFC record setting striking score of 217-1. Cachoeira would ultimately suffer a torn meniscus, torn ACL and a plethora of cuts and bruises from the fight.
Consequently, the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) has since come forward with some heated criticism concerning Yamasaki’s performance as the match’s referee.
