Mario Yamasaki Shares The Best Way To Become An MMA Referee

If you want to be a referee in MMA, Mario Yamasaki has the tips you need. Refereeing in MMA is arguably the second toughest job in the sport, outside of being a fighter yourself. As Yamasaki could attest to, it is also a brutally unforgiving job, as th…

If you want to be a referee in MMA, Mario Yamasaki has the tips you need. Refereeing in MMA is arguably the second toughest job in the sport, outside of being a fighter yourself. As Yamasaki could attest to, it is also a brutally unforgiving job, as the repercussions that come from making a mistake…

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Mario Yamasaki Was Not Responsible For Iconic ‘Be A Warrior’ Comment

Years after being banned from the UFC, referee Mario Yamasaki is clarifying his most iconic comments. Yamasaki spent the better part of two decades serving as the third man in the Octagon for some of the biggest fights in UFC history. Known for always …

Years after being banned from the UFC, referee Mario Yamasaki is clarifying his most iconic comments. Yamasaki spent the better part of two decades serving as the third man in the Octagon for some of the biggest fights in UFC history. Known for always throwing up a heart with his hands before fights, he played…

Continue Reading Mario Yamasaki Was Not Responsible For Iconic ‘Be A Warrior’ Comment at MMA News.

Mario Yamasaki On UFC Departure: ‘They Lost, Not Me’

Former UFC referee Mario Yamasaki is not holding grudges against the promotion. Yamasaki was once a mainstay in the UFC, serving as a referee in the promotion for almost twenty years. He shared the Octagon with some of the best athletes the sport has e…

Former UFC referee Mario Yamasaki is not holding grudges against the promotion. Yamasaki was once a mainstay in the UFC, serving as a referee in the promotion for almost twenty years. He shared the Octagon with some of the best athletes the sport has ever seen, ranging from Henry Cejudo and Aljamain Sterling, to Chris…

Continue Reading Mario Yamasaki On UFC Departure: ‘They Lost, Not Me’ at MMA News.

Mario Yamasaki believes Dana White was ‘too harsh’ on him: “I’m not that bad.”

Mario YamasakiFormer UFC referee Mario Yamasaki believes he was treated harshly by UFC president Dana White. For a period of time, Mario Yamasaki was a regular figure in the majority of the UFC’s US-based events, as well as a number of international cards. However, during this time, Yamasaki began to garner a reputation as one of the […]

Mario Yamasaki

Former UFC referee Mario Yamasaki believes he was treated harshly by UFC president Dana White.

For a period of time, Mario Yamasaki was a regular figure in the majority of the UFC’s US-based events, as well as a number of international cards. However, during this time, Yamasaki began to garner a reputation as one of the more unreliable referees in the sport, due to a number of dubious decisions. For example, at UFC 142, Yamasaki would controversially disqualify Erick Silva for illegal blows to the head of Carlo Prater, drawing criticism from Joe Rogan on the broadcast.

However, it was UFC Fight Night: Machida vs. Anders that finally put an end to Yamasaki’s career as a UFC referee. Dana White would rip into Yamasaki for his referring performance during a fight between Valentina Shevchenko and Priscila Cachoeira. Shevchenko, now the undisputed UFC women’s flyweight champion, landed over 200 strikes to Cachoeira’s 3.

In a post-fight interview, Dana White would vow that Yamasaki would not be allowed to referee another fight under the UFC’s banner. This was not a case of White simply being caught up in the moment. Yamasaki has not set foot in the octagon since.

However, now several years on from UFC Fight Night: Machida vs. Anders, Mario Yamasaki has spoken out about White’s past comments, and defended his actions by stating:

“Let’s say I referee 800 fights, and I fucked up in four. The only thing that shows in my history are the four fucked up fights that I did, because those are the ones they keep pushing, pushing, pushing. What Dana said about me, ‘Oh, he’ll never step foot in the Octagon again, blah, blah, blah,’ those are the things that show most, not my 796 fights that I did right. They don’t care. They only care what you did wrong.”

“I think Dana was a little too harsh on me, because I’m not that bad. 20 years there and he always came to me, we’d talk a lot, and for him to just be a media guy, and destroy a guy… That wasn’t that bad.” (H/T MMA News)

Yamasaki has since claimed that he is applying to athletic commissions once again.

Do you think Mario Yamasaki will ever referee a UFC fight again?

Mario Yamasaki Fires Back On Dana White: ‘I’m Not That Bad’

Years after being ostracized by the UFC, veteran referee Mario Yamasaki has spoken out. One of the first referees to appear as a mainstay in the UFC, Yamasaki has been the third man in the Octagon for some of the biggest fights in promotional history. …

Years after being ostracized by the UFC, veteran referee Mario Yamasaki has spoken out. One of the first referees to appear as a mainstay in the UFC, Yamasaki has been the third man in the Octagon for some of the biggest fights in promotional history. Of course, that would all change after a 2018 contest…

Continue Reading Mario Yamasaki Fires Back On Dana White: ‘I’m Not That Bad’ at MMA News.

Referee Mario Yamasaki Unsure If He’ll Officiate MMA Fights Again

Controversial referee Mario Yamasaki is weighing his options in terms of whether or not he wishes to officiate going forward. Yamasaki is a longtime referee who found himself at the center of some controversies. Many fans criticized Yamasaki for what t…

Controversial referee Mario Yamasaki is weighing his options in terms of whether or not he wishes to officiate going forward. Yamasaki is a longtime referee who found himself at the center of some controversies. Many fans criticized Yamasaki for what they believed to be a string of late stoppages. Yamasaki’s first offense to many was […]

Continue Reading Referee Mario Yamasaki Unsure If He’ll Officiate MMA Fights Again at MMA News.