Joe Rogan Critical of Referee and Matchmaking in Valentina Shevchenko vs. Priscila Cachoeira
Joe Rogan wasn’t on the commentary desk last Saturday night in Brazil but he definitely saw what unfolded in the women’s flyweight fight between Valentina Shevchenko and Priscila Cachoeira.
The fight was lopsided from start to finish with Shevchenko battering Cachoeira by an astonishing 230-3 in total strikes before finishing the Brazilian newcomer by rear naked choke in the second round.
Before the submission, Shevchenko had bloodied Cachoeira with a series of punches and elbows on the ground that appeared to do more than enough damage to stop the fight yet referee Mario Yamasaki allowed the action to continue.
While Yamasaki defended his decision to let the fight play out the way it did, Rogan believes there were a multitude of moments where the referee should have stepped into save Cachoeira from enduring anymore damage.
“They should have stopped that fight a long time ago. That fight should have been stopped 15 or 20 times. Mario Yamasaki said he gave her the opportunity to be a warrior. That’s what he said. That was his take on it,” Rogan said on his podcast this week.
“Not just beat up. Did you see the stats? The actual physical striking stats. It was some overwhelmingly unbelievable number. One versus several hundred in the significant strike department. Like she landed one pretty decent punch.”
Of course, Cachoeira didn’t want the fight to stop until she was finished but obviously the referee’s job is to protect the fighters — and sometimes that stopping the fight before they believe it’s over.
While the referee has been raked over the coals for his call in the fight, Rogan also pointed out that Cachoeira was out matched before she ever stepped foot in the Octagon.
Not only was this her UFC debut after amassing an 8-0 record against less than stellar opposition, but Cachoeira was facing arguably one of the best pound-for-pound women’s fighters in the sport in Shevchenko.
“It was a bad matchup cause that girl, I believe that was her UFC debut. So to have your UFC debut against a woman who fought for the title, against a world-class striker, literally one of the best strikers on the planet, male or female, it’s not fair,” Rogan said.
Cachoeira also suffered a serious knee injury in the fight that will require her to undergo surgery that will likely put her out of action for most of 2018 as a result.
