Dana White blasts referee Mario Yamasaki for late main event stoppage
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Dana White is rarely shy about passing on his opinion about the performances of officials. Sunday night was no exception.
The UFC president slammed referee Mario Yamasaki on Twitter for a late stoppage during the main event of UFC Fight Night: Cowboy vs. Cowboy in Pittsburgh. Donald Cerrone caught Alex Oliveira in a triangle in the first round and Oliveira tapped quite a few times before Yamasaki stepped in to call the bout off.
10 taps before Yamasaki stops it after @Cowboycerrone tells him!!! And he was looking right at it......WOW!!!!!
— Dana White (@danawhite) February 22, 2016
White pointed out that Cerrone had to actually inform Yamasaki that Oliveira was requesting that the fight be stopped.
Yamasaki, who is an oft-used referee in many different states, also had an indecisive stoppage earlier on the card. Cody Garbrandt knocked Augusto Mendes down hard in the first round and Yamasaki stepped in -- but didn't wave the fight off. Garbrandt celebrated, but then Yamasaki seemed to motioned for him to keep going. Garbrandt finished Mendes with ground and pound seconds later.
Some felt the stoppage was too early, even the second time around. But the indecisiveness of Yamasaki in that situation was most concerning.
"He was definitely knocked out," Garbrandt said in the post-fight press conference. "His eyes were rolling in the back of his head. He wasn't even looking at me. So I threw my hands up, it was done. And Mario stepped in, so I was like, 'OK, he didn't touch me, so I'm gonna keep hitting him, finish the job.' ... He's a dead man laying."