Michael Chiesa plans to appeal loss to Kevin Lee, tells ref Mario Yamasaki to 'crawl in a hole'

Michael Chiesa is disgusted with referee Mario Yamasaki's officiating and will look to appeal his controversial loss to Kevin Lee.

Sunday's UFC Fight Night 112 event in Oklahoma City ended in controversy after veteran referee Mario Yamasaki made a questionable stoppage in the headlining bout between Michael Chiesa and Kevin Lee.

Lee, 24, had Chiesa in a body triangle in the first round and was applying a palm-to-palm rear-naked choke when Yamasaki intervened and called a stop to the contest.

Although he looked to be on the verge of passing out with his right arm flailing in the air, Chiesa didn't tap and instantly sprang back to his feet to protest Yamasaki's decision.

'Maverick' ripped Yamasaki on the FS1 post-fight show and told the long-time referee to step away from the sport and 'never officiate ever again'.

“Go back and watch [Lee’s] fight with Al Iaquinta,” Chiesa said after the bout, per MMA Fighting's Shaun Al-Shatti. “He straps in palm-to-palm and really squeezes, and that choke requires a lot of arm pump, a lot of arm strength. So once he switched with palm-to-palm, I just went into this, flexed my neck, get my arms in, get my palms up, and once I feel him start to loosen up, I buckle my elbow down. I mean, I might not be ranked by a belt instructor (in jiu-jitsu), but I am a black belt level MMA fighter. I don’t lose by rear-naked choke. You’ve seen me get in this position time and time again. I was doing totally fine.

“And I think that it’s very unbalanced officiating when two fights before that, we see Justine Kish just get her head squeezed off and they didn’t do anything about it. Like, how are you going to let that slide, but you into the main event slot, a heated rivalry, hyped fight, and you let it crumble like this? I mean, Mario Yamasaki should just crawl in a hole and never step inside of any type of professional mixed martial arts event. He should never officiate ever again. He should spend more time going over the rules than making stupid little heart symbols to the cameras.”

Chiesa, who was riding a three-fight win streak heading into UFC Fight Night 112, will be appealing the controversial loss to the Oklahoma State Athletic Commission (OSAC) and is determined to secure a rematch with 'The Motown Phenom'.

“The second I saw him coming in to break it up, I instantly knew,” Chiesa said of Yamasaki. “I mean, the guy has a reputation for poor officiating. I’m not disappointed in myself for how I reacted, like a poor sport. But not only did you rob me of an opportunity, you robbed the fans of a great main event, you robbed Kevin. Kevin got a win over me and there’s not many people in the world that have done that, but now it’s really not a win. It’s just surrounded in controversy. Everybody knows.

“Dude, I’ve fought the best black belts in my division. Jim Miller, Joe Lauzon, Beneil Dariush; all these guys have taken my back in the first round. I always get out and I always win. You robbed me. So I think it’s only right that me and my team, we go back, we go to the commission, we do what we can to get this overturned, and I’m going to look to get a rematch. I’ll fight in Detroit, I’ll fight in December. I’ll fight him right now. We’re running it back, there’s no way we’re not. I’m not going to have this opportunity robbed from me like this.”

Despite the loss, Chiesa is still ranked as the No. 6 lightweight contender in the world and has beaten the likes of Al Iaquinta, Francisco Trinaldo, Jim Miller, and Beneil Dariush.