Tim Kennedy recently met Yoel Romero inside the octagon when the two fought during the main card event of UFC 178.
But the fight did not turn out as anyone would have expected it. According to Kennedy, he was robbed off of his chance to win when the referee, John McCarthy, gave Romero an extra time to sit out in his stool during the allotted break. According to Kennedy, when he saw McCarthy, hold up Romero from his chair when he did not try to budge, he went blank.
He said "I was gone. I just wasn't even mentally there anymore, which was a big huge mistake on my part. I thought the fight was over, and I'd won it twice, then I rushed in and made a huge mistake."
He added "I was gone. I was thinking it was the end of the fight. I wasn't even thinking about fighting. I was reeling."
Kennedy was on his game during the first two rounds against Romero. Throwing kicks and punches which had the latter on the sidelines.
But after extra time was given to Romero during the break, He went back all strong and fought Kennedy with his aggression. This led to Kennedy being TKO by Romero just 38 seconds into the third round.
He said "Everything [Romero's corner] did was calculated, from the extra Vaseline, to throwing in the towels, to dumping bottles of water on the floor, to leaving the stool in there...that's how pathetic this is. And the fact that they're smug about it was even more tragic. It's just that much more unprofessional."
McCarthy came back being a referee after many years and although Kennedy has high respect for him, he believed he messed up his fight.
He said "I think John is the best ref in the promotion. 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. nd before the fight, I told John, I said listen, if I hurt him, he's going to start playing cheap. I promise. His corner's going to do it, and he's going to do it."