Tag: Mario Yamasaki

Mario Yamasaki Planning To Return To Refereeing In 2021

YamasakiMario Yamasaki could be back refereeing again in 2021. The longtime MMA referee hasn’t refereed a UFC event since UFC Belem back in February 2018. While he has appeared for other promotions in Brazil as well as the PFL, he stopped entirely due to the COVID-19 pandemic. That will change soon as he hopes to […]

Yamasaki

Mario Yamasaki could be back refereeing again in 2021.

The longtime MMA referee hasn’t refereed a UFC event since UFC Belem back in February 2018. While he has appeared for other promotions in Brazil as well as the PFL, he stopped entirely due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

That will change soon as he hopes to return to the gig later this year. But don’t expect him to feature in any UFC events.

“I’m waiting for the pandemic to be over so I start applying to the athletic commissions again,” Yamasaki told MMA Fighting.

“… I’ll go back to refereeing as soon as possible. Maybe not in the UFC, but Bellator, PFL, Shooto, other promotions, so I can be in the sport. It will be up to the athletic commissions to accept me back and license me and start giving me fights to referee.”

Yamasaki notably came under fire at UFC Belem for not stopping the women’s flyweight fight between Valentina Shevchenko and Priscila Cachoeira sooner as the latter was receiving a number of huge ground and pound strikes from the former during the contest. She was eventually submitted by Shevchenko in the second round.

UFC president Dana White even ripped into him following the event by calling him incompetent and hoped he would never step foot inside the Octagon again.

That has been the case so far and it looks like staying that way. However, Yamasaki has no hard feelings towards White despite the latter taking issue with him on several other occasions.

“The UFC has given me everything I have in terms of exposure, travels and all my knowledge,” Yamasaki added. “I lived through the pinnacle of MMA, the golden era. Only joy. I have nothing to complain, only to thank. Twenty years there, it’s not for everyone.”

Do you think we’ll ever see Yamasaki refereeing a UFC bout?

Mario Yamasaki Weighs In On Herb Dean’s Stoppage Of UFC on ESPN 14 Bout

Fellow MMA referee Mario Yamasaki has given his take on Herb Dean’s stoppage during the Francisco Trinaldo vs. Jai Herbert bout. Dean came under fire for his officiating at UFC on ESPN 14. In particular, his stoppage of Trinaldo vs. Herbert was q…

Fellow MMA referee Mario Yamasaki has given his take on Herb Dean’s stoppage during the Francisco Trinaldo vs. Jai Herbert bout. Dean came under fire for his officiating at UFC on ESPN 14. In particular, his stoppage of Trinaldo vs. Herbert was questionable at best and egregious at worst. It led to a verbal spat […]

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Dan Hardy Destroys Herb Dean For UFC Moscow Late Stoppage

Rising UFC middleweight Merab Dvalishvili put on a brutal showing against a respected veteran at last week’s (Sat., Sept. 15, 2018) UFC Fight Night 136 from Olympic Stadium in Moscow, Russia. But he didn’t just beat longtime fighter CB Dollaway at the UFC’s debut in Russia. No, he floored him and absolutely rained down one […]

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Rising UFC middleweight Merab Dvalishvili put on a brutal showing against a respected veteran at last week’s (Sat., Sept. 15, 2018) UFC Fight Night 136 from Olympic Stadium in Moscow, Russia.

But he didn’t just beat longtime fighter CB Dollaway at the UFC’s debut in Russia. No, he floored him and absolutely rained down one of the most one-sided beatings the Octagon has unfortunately ever witnessed. Dvalishvili was only doing his job, however, the true fault of the fight was on referee Herb Dean.

Dean let Dvalishvili land countless shots on a turtled Dolloway who was making no effort to defend himself whatsoever. Dan Hardy, who was cageside calling the fights, pleaded for longtime official Dean to stop, yet he would not answer. He finally stepped in to call off the fight in a strange scene. The comparisons to disgraced ref Mario Yamasaki for the inexplicable decision had already begun, however.

Hardy appeared on this week’s episode of The MMA Hour to detail his opinion of Dean’s jaw-dropping negligence. The former welterweight title contender offered his respect for the longtime official, but also insisted the fight was over:

“It’s difficult to criticize Herb Dean because he’s refereed me before and he’s been excellent. He’s had an excellent career as a referee so far. I mean, I don’t know what went wrong, to be honest. For me and I think for everyone in the arena who starts to boo, I think we all saw the fight was over.”

“The Outlaw” then went in Dean a bit more, adding that he did Dolloway a disservice by letting him take so many shots:

“I feel like Herb did him a disservice there,” Hardy said. “He could have saved him from at least 10 seconds of punches. He was curled up on his side, then he moved belly down, and for me, that’s too many, when they’re belly down, they’re done.”

Hardy admitted that Dolloway was a warrior, but the fight had reached a point where he had nothing left to give. At said point, Hardy believed, it was the ref’s job to save the fighter from themselves:

“I watched the fight back today and I think it was 26 seconds before the end of the round, I said something about Dollaway, fatigue had taken over and he had not a lot to give,” Hardy said. “He was trying to fight back he’s a warrior, he wouldn’t give up. I always appreciate a guy who will take a beating until the referee stops it, but that’s what the referee is for is to save the fighters from themselves and from their ego and pride.”

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Disgraced Mario Yamasaki Says He’s Going Back To Referee School

Oft-maligned MMA referee Mario Yamasaki might have 19 years of experience, but that hasn’t stopped him from some epic blunders. Yamasaki most recently came under fire after allowing Valentina Shevchenko to brutalize newcomer Priscila Cachoeira in a sustained beating back in February. Shevchenko outstruck Cachieira 230-3. You read that right; 230-3. Yamasaki took a ton of […]

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Oft-maligned MMA referee Mario Yamasaki might have 19 years of experience, but that hasn’t stopped him from some epic blunders.

Yamasaki most recently came under fire after allowing Valentina Shevchenko to brutalize newcomer Priscila Cachoeira in a sustained beating back in February. Shevchenko outstruck Cachieira 230-3. You read that right; 230-3.

Yamasaki took a ton of flack from UFC President Dana White for allowing the fight to needlessly continue, and now the Brazilian referee admitted he could have stopped the fight sooner and is now looking to improve upon his weaknesses (MMA Mania):

“I think they’re going to know I’m still trying to be the best that I can be. I’m not cocky, just saying, ‘I’ve been there for 19 years; I can’t learn any more.’

“I should have stopped it a little earlier, but I didn’t.”

“If you count for 19 years I’ve been reffing, how many were controversial? Four? Five? But people always see mistakes,” he said. “There’s nothing I can do. I just have to focus and try not to make any early calls or late calls. Reprogram. Do my job, you know?”

Yamasaki says he will be attending John McCarthey’s referee seminar during International Fight Week in Las Vegas to sharpen his refereeing skills following the Shevchenko vs. Cachoeira blunder.

In defense of the Shevchenko fight, Yamasaki says he wanted to let Cachoeira be a “warrior”, but it ended up being at the expense of her health. Fighters often don’t want to tap or have the fight stopped, but that’s where the referee comes into play for their own safety.

Do you think these referee seminars will help improve Yamasaki’s referee skills?

The post Disgraced Mario Yamasaki Says He’s Going Back To Referee School appeared first on LowKickMMA.com.

UFC Rankings Update: Valentina Shevchenko Soars In New Division

Former UFC women’s bantamweight title challenger Valentina Shevchenko is making waves in her new weight class. ‘Bullet’ made her women’s 125-pound debut against debuting Brazilian Priscilia Cachoeira in the co-main event of last weekend’s (Sat., February 3, 2018) UFC Fight Night 125 from Arena Guilherme Paraense in Belém, Brazil, and her performance was as dominant a […]

The post UFC Rankings Update: Valentina Shevchenko Soars In New Division appeared first on LowKickMMA.com.

Former UFC women’s bantamweight title challenger Valentina Shevchenko is making waves in her new weight class.

‘Bullet’ made her women’s 125-pound debut against debuting Brazilian Priscilia Cachoeira in the co-main event of last weekend’s (Sat., February 3, 2018) UFC Fight Night 125 from Arena Guilherme Paraense in Belém, Brazil, and her performance was as dominant a one we’ve seen in the UFC.

So much so that the bigger overall story of her one-sided beating was referee Mario Yamasaki’s insistence to let the overmatched Cachoeira continue fighting despite being outstruck 230-3 before having to tap out multiple times to a Shevchenko rear-naked choke for Yamasaki to call it off. The horrific refereeing has caused Dana White to embark on a justified smear campaign against Yamasaki, calling him a ‘moron’ and saying he’ll never referee again.

But that was beyond her control.

What was in her control was an absolutely perfect performance where she looked sharp in all aspects of MMA, resulting in one of the most flawless wins in UFC history to the point where some questioned the matchmaking in the still-developing division.

For the win, “Bullet” shot all the way up to the No. 1 spot in the class and should be headed for a clash with champion Nicco Montano. She was removed from the women’s bantamweight rankings as well, bumping the rest of the top 15 up one spot apiece and allowing Ashlee Evans-Smith to re-debut at No. 15.

Check out the full updated rankings courtesy of UFC.com right here:

POUND-FOR-POUND
1 Demetrious Johnson
2 Conor McGregor
3 Daniel Cormier
4 Stipe Miocic
5 Max Holloway -1
6 Georges St-Pierre
7 TJ Dillashaw
8 Tyron Woodley
9 Cris Cyborg
10 Tony Ferguson
11 Cody Garbrandt
12 Robert Whittaker
13 Amanda Nunes
14 Khabib Nurmagomedov
15 Joanna Jedrzejczyk

FLYWEIGHT
Champion: Demetrious Johnson
1 Joseph Benavidez
2 Henry Cejudo
3 Ray Borg
4 Jussier Formiga
5 Sergio Pettis
6 Wilson Reis
7 Brandon Moreno
8 Ben Nguyen
9 Dustin Ortiz
10 John Moraga
11 Matheus Nicolau
12 Tim Elliott
13 Alexandre Pantoja
14 Deiveson Figueiredo
15 Magomed Bibulatov

BANTAMWEIGHT
Champion: TJ Dillashaw
1 Cody Garbrandt
2 Dominick Cruz
3 Raphael Assuncao
4 Jimmie Rivera
5 Marlon Moraes
6 John Lineker
7 Bryan Caraway
8 John Dodson
9 Aljamain Sterling
10 Pedro Munhoz
11 Rob Font
12 Thomas Almeida
13 Eddie Wineland
14 Brett Johns
15 Matthew Lopez

FEATHERWEIGHT
Champion: Max Holloway
1 Jose Aldo
2 Frankie Edgar
3 Brian Ortega
4 Josh Emmett
5 Cub Swanson
6 Ricardo Lamas
7 Chan Sung Jung
8 Jeremy Stephens
9 Darren Elkins
10 Yair Rodriguez
11 Renato Moicano
12 Mirsad Bektic
13 Dooho Choi
14 Myles Jury
15 Calvin Kattar

LIGHTWEIGHT
Champion: Conor McGregor
1 Tony Ferguson (Interim Champion)
2 Khabib Nurmagomedov
3 Eddie Alvarez
4 Edson Barboza
5 Dustin Poirier
6 Justin Gaethje
7 Kevin Lee
8 Nate Diaz
9 Michael Chiesa
10 Al Iaquinta
11 Beneil Dariush
12 James Vick
13 Anthony Pettis
14 Francisco Trinaldo
15 Evan Dunham

WELTERWEIGHT
Champion: Tyron Woodley
1 Stephen Thompson
2 Rafael Dos Anjos
3 Colby Covington
4 Robbie Lawler
5 Demian Maia
6 Jorge Masvidal
7 Darren Till
8 Neil Magny
9 Kamaru Usman
10 Santiago Ponzinibbio
11 Donald Cerrone
12 Carlos Condit
13 Gunnar Nelson
14 Dong Hyun Kim
15 Yancy Medeiros

MIDDLEWEIGHT
Champion: Robert Whittaker
1 Yoel Romero
2 Luke Rockhold
3 Jacare Souza
4 Chris Weidman
5 Kelvin Gastelum
6 Michael Bisping
7 Derek Brunson
8 David Branch
9 Uriah Hall
10 Vitor Belfort
11 Thiago Santos +4
12 Lyoto Machida +1
13 Krzysztof Jotko -1
14 Paulo Costa
15 Brad Tavares -4

LIGHT HEAVYWEIGHT
Champion: Daniel Cormier
1 Alexander Gustafsson
2 Glover Teixeira
2 Volkan Oezdemir
4 Jimi Manuwa
5 Ovince Saint Preux
6 Mauricio Rua
7 Misha Cirkunov
8 Corey Anderson
8 Ilir Latifi
10 Patrick Cummins
11 Jan Blachowicz
12 Gadzhimurad Antigulov
13 Tyson Pedro
14 Gian Villante
15 Jared Cannonier

HEAVYWEIGHT
Champion: Stipe Miocic
1 Francis Ngannou
2 Alistair Overeem
3 Fabricio Werdum
4 Cain Velasquez
5 Mark Hunt
6 Derrick Lewis
7 Alexander Volkov
8 Marcin Tybura
9 Curtis Blaydes
10 Stefan Struve
11 Aleksei Oleinik
12 Andrei Arlovski
13 Tim Johnson +2
14 Junior Albini -1
15 Shamil Abdurakhimov *NR

WOMEN’S STRAWWEIGHT
Champion: Rose Namajunas
1 Joanna Jedrzejczyk
2 Jessica Andrade
3 Claudia Gadelha
4 Karolina Kowalkiewicz
5 Tecia Torres
6 Carla Esparza
7 Michelle Waterson
8 Felice Herrig
9 Cynthia Calvillo
10 Alexa Grasso
11 Randa Markos
12 Cortney Casey
13 Joanne Calderwood
14 Maryna Moroz
15 Tatiana Suarez

WOMEN’S FLYWEIGHT
Champion: Nicco Montano
1 Valentina Shevchenko *NR
2 Sijara Eubanks -1
3 Lauren Murphy -1
4 Alexis Davis -1
5 Roxanne Modafferi -1
6 Barb Honchak -1
7 Liz Carmouche -1
8 Katlyn Chookagian -1
9 Jessica-Rose Clark -1
10 Jessica Eye -1
11 Montana De La Rosa -1
12 Rachael Ostovich
13 Mara Romero Borella -2
14 Paige VanZant -1
15 Shana Dobson -1

WOMEN’S BANTAMWEIGHT
Champion: Amanda Nunes
1 Holly Holm +1
2 Julianna Pena +1
3 Raquel Pennington +1
4 Germaine de Randamie +1
5 Ketlen Vieira +1
6 Cat Zingano +1
7 Sara McMann +1
8 Ronda Rousey +1
9 Marion Reneau +1
10 Leslie Smith +1
11 Bethe Correia +1
12 Aspen Ladd +1
13 Sarah Moras +1
14 Irene Aldana +1
15 Ashlee Evans-Smith *NR

The post UFC Rankings Update: Valentina Shevchenko Soars In New Division appeared first on LowKickMMA.com.

UFC Rankings Update: Valentina Shevchenko Soars In New Division

Former UFC women’s bantamweight title challenger Valentina Shevchenko is making waves in her new weight class. ‘Bullet’ made her women’s 125-pound debut against debuting Brazilian Priscilia Cachoeira in the co-main event of last weekend’s (Sat., February 3, 2018) UFC Fight Night 125 from Arena Guilherme Paraense in Belém, Brazil, and her performance was as dominant a […]

The post UFC Rankings Update: Valentina Shevchenko Soars In New Division appeared first on LowKickMMA.com.

Former UFC women’s bantamweight title challenger Valentina Shevchenko is making waves in her new weight class.

‘Bullet’ made her women’s 125-pound debut against debuting Brazilian Priscilia Cachoeira in the co-main event of last weekend’s (Sat., February 3, 2018) UFC Fight Night 125 from Arena Guilherme Paraense in Belém, Brazil, and her performance was as dominant a one we’ve seen in the UFC.

So much so that the bigger overall story of her one-sided beating was referee Mario Yamasaki’s insistence to let the overmatched Cachoeira continue fighting despite being outstruck 230-3 before having to tap out multiple times to a Shevchenko rear-naked choke for Yamasaki to call it off. The horrific refereeing has caused Dana White to embark on a justified smear campaign against Yamasaki, calling him a ‘moron’ and saying he’ll never referee again.

But that was beyond her control.

What was in her control was an absolutely perfect performance where she looked sharp in all aspects of MMA, resulting in one of the most flawless wins in UFC history to the point where some questioned the matchmaking in the still-developing division.

For the win, “Bullet” shot all the way up to the No. 1 spot in the class and should be headed for a clash with champion Nicco Montano. She was removed from the women’s bantamweight rankings as well, bumping the rest of the top 15 up one spot apiece and allowing Ashlee Evans-Smith to re-debut at No. 15.

Check out the full updated rankings courtesy of UFC.com right here:

POUND-FOR-POUND
1 Demetrious Johnson
2 Conor McGregor
3 Daniel Cormier
4 Stipe Miocic
5 Max Holloway -1
6 Georges St-Pierre
7 TJ Dillashaw
8 Tyron Woodley
9 Cris Cyborg
10 Tony Ferguson
11 Cody Garbrandt
12 Robert Whittaker
13 Amanda Nunes
14 Khabib Nurmagomedov
15 Joanna Jedrzejczyk

FLYWEIGHT
Champion: Demetrious Johnson
1 Joseph Benavidez
2 Henry Cejudo
3 Ray Borg
4 Jussier Formiga
5 Sergio Pettis
6 Wilson Reis
7 Brandon Moreno
8 Ben Nguyen
9 Dustin Ortiz
10 John Moraga
11 Matheus Nicolau
12 Tim Elliott
13 Alexandre Pantoja
14 Deiveson Figueiredo
15 Magomed Bibulatov

BANTAMWEIGHT
Champion: TJ Dillashaw
1 Cody Garbrandt
2 Dominick Cruz
3 Raphael Assuncao
4 Jimmie Rivera
5 Marlon Moraes
6 John Lineker
7 Bryan Caraway
8 John Dodson
9 Aljamain Sterling
10 Pedro Munhoz
11 Rob Font
12 Thomas Almeida
13 Eddie Wineland
14 Brett Johns
15 Matthew Lopez

FEATHERWEIGHT
Champion: Max Holloway
1 Jose Aldo
2 Frankie Edgar
3 Brian Ortega
4 Josh Emmett
5 Cub Swanson
6 Ricardo Lamas
7 Chan Sung Jung
8 Jeremy Stephens
9 Darren Elkins
10 Yair Rodriguez
11 Renato Moicano
12 Mirsad Bektic
13 Dooho Choi
14 Myles Jury
15 Calvin Kattar

LIGHTWEIGHT
Champion: Conor McGregor
1 Tony Ferguson (Interim Champion)
2 Khabib Nurmagomedov
3 Eddie Alvarez
4 Edson Barboza
5 Dustin Poirier
6 Justin Gaethje
7 Kevin Lee
8 Nate Diaz
9 Michael Chiesa
10 Al Iaquinta
11 Beneil Dariush
12 James Vick
13 Anthony Pettis
14 Francisco Trinaldo
15 Evan Dunham

WELTERWEIGHT
Champion: Tyron Woodley
1 Stephen Thompson
2 Rafael Dos Anjos
3 Colby Covington
4 Robbie Lawler
5 Demian Maia
6 Jorge Masvidal
7 Darren Till
8 Neil Magny
9 Kamaru Usman
10 Santiago Ponzinibbio
11 Donald Cerrone
12 Carlos Condit
13 Gunnar Nelson
14 Dong Hyun Kim
15 Yancy Medeiros

MIDDLEWEIGHT
Champion: Robert Whittaker
1 Yoel Romero
2 Luke Rockhold
3 Jacare Souza
4 Chris Weidman
5 Kelvin Gastelum
6 Michael Bisping
7 Derek Brunson
8 David Branch
9 Uriah Hall
10 Vitor Belfort
11 Thiago Santos +4
12 Lyoto Machida +1
13 Krzysztof Jotko -1
14 Paulo Costa
15 Brad Tavares -4

LIGHT HEAVYWEIGHT
Champion: Daniel Cormier
1 Alexander Gustafsson
2 Glover Teixeira
2 Volkan Oezdemir
4 Jimi Manuwa
5 Ovince Saint Preux
6 Mauricio Rua
7 Misha Cirkunov
8 Corey Anderson
8 Ilir Latifi
10 Patrick Cummins
11 Jan Blachowicz
12 Gadzhimurad Antigulov
13 Tyson Pedro
14 Gian Villante
15 Jared Cannonier

HEAVYWEIGHT
Champion: Stipe Miocic
1 Francis Ngannou
2 Alistair Overeem
3 Fabricio Werdum
4 Cain Velasquez
5 Mark Hunt
6 Derrick Lewis
7 Alexander Volkov
8 Marcin Tybura
9 Curtis Blaydes
10 Stefan Struve
11 Aleksei Oleinik
12 Andrei Arlovski
13 Tim Johnson +2
14 Junior Albini -1
15 Shamil Abdurakhimov *NR

WOMEN’S STRAWWEIGHT
Champion: Rose Namajunas
1 Joanna Jedrzejczyk
2 Jessica Andrade
3 Claudia Gadelha
4 Karolina Kowalkiewicz
5 Tecia Torres
6 Carla Esparza
7 Michelle Waterson
8 Felice Herrig
9 Cynthia Calvillo
10 Alexa Grasso
11 Randa Markos
12 Cortney Casey
13 Joanne Calderwood
14 Maryna Moroz
15 Tatiana Suarez

WOMEN’S FLYWEIGHT
Champion: Nicco Montano
1 Valentina Shevchenko *NR
2 Sijara Eubanks -1
3 Lauren Murphy -1
4 Alexis Davis -1
5 Roxanne Modafferi -1
6 Barb Honchak -1
7 Liz Carmouche -1
8 Katlyn Chookagian -1
9 Jessica-Rose Clark -1
10 Jessica Eye -1
11 Montana De La Rosa -1
12 Rachael Ostovich
13 Mara Romero Borella -2
14 Paige VanZant -1
15 Shana Dobson -1

WOMEN’S BANTAMWEIGHT
Champion: Amanda Nunes
1 Holly Holm +1
2 Julianna Pena +1
3 Raquel Pennington +1
4 Germaine de Randamie +1
5 Ketlen Vieira +1
6 Cat Zingano +1
7 Sara McMann +1
8 Ronda Rousey +1
9 Marion Reneau +1
10 Leslie Smith +1
11 Bethe Correia +1
12 Aspen Ladd +1
13 Sarah Moras +1
14 Irene Aldana +1
15 Ashlee Evans-Smith *NR

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