5 times Dana White was disgusted by a referee

#2. Dana White hits out at Leon Roberts for "horrible stoppage" during Yan vs. Aldo fight

Petr Yan walks away after punishing Jose Aldo at UFC 251 | Image courtesy: Twitter @nypost

Dana White slammed referee Leon Roberts at the UFC 251 post-fight press conference. Jose Aldo and Petr Yan went to war for the UFC bantamweight title vacated by former champion Henry Cejudo. The first three rounds were pretty even but the narrative changed in the later rounds, with Yan landing a barrage of unanswered strikes on Aldo that warranted a stoppage.

Jose Aldo was turtled up during the last round and despite endless blows from the Russian, was doing little to nothing to improve his position or defend himself. Regardless, referee Leon Roberts allowed the fight to drag on until the 3:24 mark of round five before finally stepping in to stop the fight. Dana White, who believed it was a horrible instance of refereeing, said:

"Horrible, horrible stoppage by the referee. It should’ve been stopped way sooner, you know. It looks like we have to tighten up our refs and judges here in 'Fight Island.'"

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#1. Dana White calls Mario Yamasaki "disgusting"

Fighters Only World Mixed Martial Arts Awards 2011

Mario Yamasaki is perhaps one referee who has irked Dana White more than anyone, even Steve Mazzagatti. UFC boss slammed Yamasaki for his ineffective refereeing during the Valentina Schevchenko vs. Priscila Cachoeira fight in 2018. Shevchenko, who was a massive favorite going into the bout, dominated Cachoeira with ease before submitting her in round two.

While Yamasaki's delay in stopping 'Bullet' from punishing Cachoeira was enough to annoy Dana White, the former justifying his actions made things worse. The referee later said that he refrained from stopping the fight only to allow Priscila Cachoeira to be a warrior. When Dana White learned about this, he said:

"I think it's disgusting. I think he [Yamasaki] is disgusting and I never wanna see him reffing ever again... And she [Cachoeira] did fight like a warrior. For that idiot to say that he gave her the opportunity to be warrior. No. 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 going to see him again."

Mario Yamasaki has not been seen in the UFC octagon for quite some time. Fans should not expect that to change, after all, Dana White is not known for letting go of grudges so easily.