På UFC Fight Night 112 stoppade domaren Mario Yamasaki matchen mellan Michael Chiesa och Kevin Lee efter att Lee fått in ett rear naked choke på Chiesa. Ett stopp som blev väldigt kontroversiellt och ledde till att Chiesa överklagade sin förlust men fick avslag. Chiesa utmanade nyligen Yamasaki, som har svart bälte i brasiliansk jiu-jutsu, till en grappling match. Såhär sade Chiesa under TheMMAHour:
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.
Nu har Yamasaki svarat på utmaningen och säger såhär till MMAFighting:
I’m 53 years old, I don’t train anymore, how am I going to do this. 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.
What is he trying to prove? That’s what I wanna know. What would that change? He wants media, and he already had media.
