UFC middleweights Yoel Romero and Tim Kennedy face off in the video below after Romero starched Kennedy in the third round of their fight to win via TKO:
Kennedy is complaining to Romero for sitting on his stool longer than he was supposed to in between the second and third round of their fight. Kennedy had Romero is huge trouble, stunning the fighter with a barrage of punches in which clearly Romero was saved by the bell to end the second round. Romero went to his corner and sat on stool as usual, and it was clear he was still out of it. Once the one minute rest period was over Romero continued to sit on the stool. Under normal circumstances a fighter that doesn’t answer the bell will lose the fight was a result of a TKO. However, these were not normal circumstances. At no point does referee Big John McCarthy ask Romero if ‘he wants to continue” to fight. Also, Romero’s corner put too much vaseline on a cut that Romero had sustained(probably on purpose) which gave Romero extra time as well.
If McCarthy had asked Romero if he wanted to continue and Romero refused to get off the stool he could have called the fight instantly. He didn’t. Did Romero and his corner bend the rules to favor their fighter? Absolutely. However, the blame should be placed on the referee and the commission, not Romero or his corner.
Kennedy also had the same 30 second or so to rest that Romero benefited from, but the fact that Kennedy decided to drop his hands and block punches with his face in the third round is the real reason Kennedy lost on Saturday night.