“He’s a great guy, and I’m always happy to see him. When I step into the octagon however, I represent the people watching at home that might have obvious questions, and when something is controversial I’m forced to confront it honestly because that’s what I would want to hear from a person in my position if I was a fan watching it at home.”
Thread by Joe Rogan from The Underground Forum, January 15, 2012 (Full thread HERE)
It’s not often that we hear from referees in the sport. When we do it’s almost never during an event, so at UFC 142 when Joe Rogan had pulled referee Mario Yamasaki aside for a post fight interview after the controversial call Yamasaki made to decide the Carlos Prater disqualification win over Erick Silva, many were intrigued to hear his view on the decision.
Responses to the interview from social media, and several media sources felt that Rogan was harassing Yamasaki with his line of questioning. This backlash had prompted Rogan to issue a response of why he had the post fight interview with Yamasaki.
“I had to ask Mario about it. I didn’t know how he was going to respond, but I had to ask him.
Erick Silva is a very promising fighter and I felt like I had a responsibility to address the issue.
No disrespect intended.”
