Former UFC referee Mario Yamasaki has hit back at past criticism from fight fans and UFC president Dana White.

For many years now, fans and pundits have had their favourite – and least favourite – referees. In that time, few have created quite as much controversy as Mario Yamasaki. The former ref is often used as an example of someone who lets the fight go on far too long, not taking the health of the fighters into consideration.

Plenty have made complaints about him in the past. Then, back in 2018, a furious Dana White called Mario ‘disgusting’ after his performance during Valentina Shevchenko and Priscilla Cachoeira.

Yamasaki hasn’t refereed a fight in the Ultimate Fighting Championship since then.

During a recent interview, the 58-year-old defended his actions and gave his thoughts on White’s past remarks.

“Let’s say I referee 800 fights, and I f***ed up in four. The only thing that shows in my history are the four f***ed up fights that I did, because those are the ones they keep pushing, pushing, pushing,” Yamasaki said. “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.”

Yamasaki hits back at White

“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.”

Quotes via MMA News

What are your thoughts on Mario Yamasaki as a referee? Do you think Dana White was right to blacklist him, or should he have been given another chance? Let us know in the comments, BJPENN Nation!