Valentina (right) was not aware of Pedrita (left). Photo: Instagram / UFC
The controversial fight between Valentina Shevchenko and Priscila Pedrita added another chapter this Tuesday (06). Cristiano Sampaio, executive director of the Brazilian MMA Athletic Commission (CABMMA), the entity responsible for sanctioning the fight, criticized Mário Yamazaki's performance. According to the director, the referee should have stopped the fight and prevented the Brazilian from suffering so many blows without being able to defend herself.
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Through an official statement from CABMMA, reproduced by the American website MMA Junkie, Sampaio pointed out Yamazaki's mistakes in the dispute. According to him, Pedrita's resistance was not reason enough to maintain the punishment applied by Valentina without interruption.
“Priscilla demonstrated resilience and heart during the two rounds, but these are two attitudes that should not interfere or confuse the referee when it comes to stopping the fight. In the first round, in the last minutes, it became clear that Priscilla could not defend herself efficiently. In the second round, in the same way, but Priscilla did not recover physically enough from the previous round to demonstrate her chance against Valentina, the fight should have been stopped in the initial moments”, said Sampaio.
Criticism and praise
Cristiano Sampaio is just one more person to point out Yamazaki's mistake in the dispute. In addition to him, Dana White, president of the UFC, even said that the mediator should not return to refereeing in the Octagon. However, the director of CBMMA, in the same statement, made a point of praising Mário's history in MMA.
“Mario Yamasaki has been one of the best referees in MMA over the last decade and has played a key role in helping our committee build its team of officials. We will discuss the next steps together and decide what is certainly best for all parties involved in the process,” he concluded.
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