Tim Kennedy's UFC 178 controversy further heats up, as the middleweight contender placed the blame on veteran referee John McCarthy for a decision, which he believes led to his eventual defeat.

Tim Kennedy's UFC 178 dispute was regarding opponent Yoel Romero, who had an extra 28 seconds of rest in between the second and third rounds of the fight. The extra seconds proved to be a game-changer, as Romero, who was badly beaten during the fight's onset, ended up coming back and winning via third round TKO.

Tim Kennedy's UFC 178 controversy was further discussed during Monday's episode of The MMA Hour.

"They all know what happened, it's the oldest trick in the book," Kennedy said. "It's no secret. If this is any other sport, if this is NFL or the NBA, it'd be like, oh man, the end of the fourth quarter, we're going to go an extra 28 seconds. It doesn't happen. It's beyond unprofessional, it's truly tragic."

Kennedy went on to explain that he did believe that the fight had already ended when Romero had not gotten up from his stool past the allowed one-minute break in between rounds.

"I walked over there, and dude, it's an eternity when you're in the cage," he added. "If you get the 28 seconds to recover, imagine if I had the extra 28 seconds in the second round. The guy wouldn't be walking for a month."

The 35-year old mixed martial arts veteran also explained that the misunderstanding and the fact that the fight was allowed to continue despite the apparent controversy threw him off his game, and eventually led to his loss.

But for Kennedy, it is veteran referee John McCarthy whom he blames the most for what happened.

"I think John is the best ref in the promotion," Kennedy continued. "He and Herb Dean, truly, I have respect for. He f---ed up majorly in my fight. He got owned. He got owned that night by a bunch of guys doing sh---y things. He got played by all three of them, and he just let it happen."