"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.
I think Mario Yamasaki is one of the best in the world at refereeing MMA. No doubt about it. He's got great insight to the sport, he's a life long martial artist, and he's a really smart guy. What I was acting from, is that I saw an incredible young talent get denied a KO victory for a questionable call. When I entered into the Octagon and was told of the official ruling that Silva was going to be disqualified for illegal blows to the back of the head everyone that I was around who heard the news opened their mouths in shock. Everyone said, "what?"
The people in the truck couldn't believe it. I had to read it back to them because I thought it was a mistake, and when I leaned over to explain it to Goldie he couldn't believe it either. 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."
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