Veteran MMA Referee Accuses Dana White of Breaking Their ‘Open Relationship’: “20 Years There and He Always Came to Me”

Published 01/16/2023, 9:40 AM EST

UFC president Dana White can be your biggest fan or your greatest critic. Unfortunately for Mario Yamasaki, he was the latter. The UFC head honcho does not hold back when giving compliments or telling someone off. This particular trait of his goes a long way in promoting his fighters and clapping back at his critics. His comments during his spats with Oscar De La Hoya or Bob Arum are perfect examples. Similarly, MMA referee Mario Yamasaki also came under fire from White after a poor officiating display in 2018. White openly stated that he did not want to see Yamasaki referring in the UFC after his botch.

In February 2018, Yamasaki officiated a fight between Valentina Shevchenko and Priscila Cachoeira. Shevchenko slaughtered her debutant opponent by outstriking her 95-2. Meanwhile, Yamasaki received flak for letting the fight go on for too long. Despite the fight being heavily one-sided, he intervened after Cachoeira had taken a lot of damage- a late stoppage in the eyes of many.

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Now almost five years after the controversy, Yamasaki has spoken out and retorted to the comments made by White.

Mario Yamasaki responds to Dana White

In the aftermath of the fight, a furious White did not hold back on Yamasaki. In an interview on Fox, he said, “For that idiot to say that he gave her the opportunity to be a warrior, no, you moron! You’re in there to protect her from herself. He makes me sick. That guy has no business reffing fights. And I promise you, you’re not gonna see him again.”

Now, Yamasaki has come forward and said that White’s comments were harsh and unfair. He mentioned how people remember your poor performances more than your good ones.

Speaking of White, he said how the criticism was too harsh, “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…”

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Yamasaki also spoke of his relationship with White prior to the fallout. He said, “He was really nice. We went out all the time, we talked. And we had, you know, a close relationship. You know, open relationship, like I could call him anytime.”

Yamasaki also added that he had no regrets about the time he spent in the UFC. Despite his disapproval of the way White handled that one situation, the veteran referee said he was proud of his accomplishments in the promotion.

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What are your thoughts on the situation? Was White too harsh on Yamasaki? Let us know in the comments below.

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Written by:

Yeswanth Praveen is a UFC writer at EssentiallySports. His interests mainly lie in the realm of MMA, bodybuilding, and the fitness industry. He finished his Master's in English literature from EFLU, Hyderabad.

Edited by:

Rohini Kottu

Veteran MMA Referee Accuses Dana White of Breaking Their ‘Open Relationship’: “20 Years There and He Always Came to Me”

Mario Yamasaki responds to Dana White

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