Dana White rips Mario Yamasaki on Instagram after UFC Fight Night 112 headliner stoppage

Move over, Steve Mazzagatti. UFC President Dana White has a new favorite target when it comes to referees.

White even borrowed the last name of his most hated referee to encapsulate his feelings after Mario Yamasaki botched a call in the headliner of UFC Fight Night 112, referring to the veteran official as “Mario Mazzagatti” on Instagram following the FS1-televised event at Chesapeake Energy Arena in Oklahoma City, Okla.

Mario Mazzagatti does it again!!! This guy is more concerned with doing this dumb ass heart bullshit then Ref'n the fight!!! Steals a great moment from Lee or let Mike fight it or tap. Nobody gives a shit that u can make a heart with ur hands like a 12 year old girl they want u to pay attention to what's going on in the fight and do ur job.

A post shared by Dana White (@danawhite) on Jun 25, 2017 at 9:11pm PDT

“Mario Mazzagatti does it again!!!” the UFC official wrote. “This guy is more concerned with doing this dumb ass heart bull(expletive) then Ref’n the fight!!! Steals a great moment from Lee or let Mike fight it or tap.

“Nobody gives a (expletive) that u can make a heart with ur hands like a 12 year old girl they want u to pay attention to what’s going on in the fight and do ur job.”

Of course, there weren’t many voices in support of Yamasaki’s performance after he stopped a grudge match between Kevin Lee and Michael Chiesa in the first round. Lee had locked in a rear-naked choke and was just seconds away from putting Chiesa to sleep when Yamasaki intervened and called off the bout at the 4:37 mark of the opening frame.

Chiesa immediately protested the call, screaming at Yamasaki, “I didn’t tap.” He then implored Lee to run back the fight in December, though Lee seemed more interested in a fight with would-be UFC interim lightweight challenger Khabib Nurmagomedov.

The ending lent a sour note to an otherwise strong main card, though it wasn’t the first bad call for Yamaski during the fight card. He watched as Maryna Moroz (8-2 MMA, 3-2 UFC) blatantly held the gloves of ex-women’s strawweight champ Carla Esparza (12-4 MMA, 3-2 UFC) as they grappled on the mat, and then stood the fight up for a lack of action despite Esparza’s complaints.

Yamasaki has been a UFC referee for more than a decade, but he hadn’t drawn this type of response until tonight in Oklahoma City. It won’t be a surprise if Chiesa appeals the official result.

For complete coverage of UFC Fight Night 112, check out the UFC Events section of the site.