Despite injuries, Cachoeira defends corner in wake of UFC Belem loss
Priscila Cachoeira has quite a few wounds to lick after her UFC debut, but she isn't pointing the finger at her cornermen.
The Brazilian announced Sunday on Instagram she'll need surgery on her ACL and meniscus following a brutal beatdown from Valentina Shevchenko at Saturday's UFC Fight Night 125, and while her team was treated to no shortage of scrutiny for not throwing in the towel, Cachoeira vehemently defended the decision (with translation by MMAJunkie's Fernanda Prates):
Hi, everyone. Just stopping by to say everything is OK. Took me a while to speak because I didn’t have my cell on me and I was at the hospital… So … I apologize to my fans, friends and family, who threw a party to watch my fight. I caught an extremely tough fighter, who I’m a fan of, and on fight time I wasn’t the real 'Pedrita.' Those who know me and are around me on my day-to-day, know how I could have performed. And even having injured my knee early in the fight, I went until the end because I don’t know quitting. I will need surgery on my ACL and meniscus. And there are a lot of people talking about how I fought the top one, etc, that my master told me to shut up and blah blah. Let’s go… I will fight any fighter in the world, regardless of her standings. I’d fight Valentina another 10 times without even thinking twice. Those who pick easy battles aren’t true warriors. And the treatment and the intimacy I have with my master … Those on the outside don’t know anything to criticize it. This isn’t master and student. It’s father and daughter. And no one will say how he’s supposed to treat me. And about throwing the towel: this is PRVT, and we’re the ones who know my limits. Throwing the towel, never. Thank you all for the messages of kindness and support I’ve been getting. I’m sure I have gotten a family for the rest of my life. And to those criticizing: I don’t give a damn, I will come back stronger. 'A moment will not erase an entire history.'
Referee Mario Yamasaki was also criticized for allowing the thrashing to continue in the second round when Cachoeira was unable to defend a barrage of punches while in mounted crucifix position, with UFC president Dana White hoping the matchup would mark his last in the Octagon.
Shevchenko ultimately finished the lopsided affair late in the middle stanza with a rear-naked choke.
Yamasaki has since released a statement to MMA Fighting in which he defended his choice to let Cachoeira carry on:
During the second round, I signaled to 'Pedrita' that if she didn’t move I’d stop the fight, and every time I’d stop, I told her and she moved to try to escape from the punches. Unfortunately, I also can’t control the number of blows thrown - again, when a fighter is trying to come back she’s game.
Fighters go through times of hard effort and dedication to be there. MMA is a contact sport and no fighter likes his fight to be stopped with no chance to revert the result. In my opinion, I allowed Pedrita to be a warrior and keep fighting. I could have stopped the fight in the second crucifix or in the mount, but she moved the whole time.
I also recognize that I should have stopped when she tapped the first time to the rear-naked choke. I only stopped a few seconds later.
About other people’s opinions, it’s their right to say.