Experienced MMA referee Mario Yamasaki got a in some trouble recently when he stopped a fight as the fighter was caught in a rear naked choke and he hadn’t tapped. Kevin Lee submitted Michael Chiesa with a rear naked choke at a UFC event in June after the referee Mario Yamasaki stopped the fight before Chiesa tapped or went unconscious. The choke was fully locked and Chiesa wasn’t defending himself.
Chiesa, a purple belt in BJJ, appealed the call with no success but went as far as to challenge the 53 year old 5th degree black belt to a grappling:
“Onnit is having an invitational on Sept. 30, so this is my open challenge to Yamasaki,” Chiesa said (via MMA Fighting). “I would like to test his fifth-degree black belt in a friendly grappling match and let’s see if he’s what he says he is.”
“And I’m not saying it in a hostile way, I’m saying, ‘hey, if you’re a fifth-degree black belt, you should back up for the decisions you made.’ As a martial artist myself, that’s my open challenge to him, to headline Onnit Invitational on Sept. 30.”
“I know he’s a fifth-degree black belt and that’s all fine and dandy, but that doesn’t mean he’s a fifth degree black belt in officiating,” Chiesa continued. “I feel like he’s fallen behind a little bit, and I think it’s sad when a referee walks into your room and you and your teammates are looking at each other like, ‘oh sh-t, we got this guy.’”
Yamasaki went the high road in answering Chiesa’s challenge:
“I’m 53 years old, I don’t train anymore, how am I going to do this?” Yamasaki said. “And what’s the point of him fighting me? What would that change? What does he want to prove? It’s childish. Even if he catches me or if I catch him, that won’t change anything that happened in his fight. What is he trying to prove?”
“If he gives me some time to train, I’d grapple with him. Tell him to come to my academy, no problem. I have 10 academies in the United States, he can come any time he wants.”
