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Scott Coker: ‘Rampage’ Jackson situation has been turned over to Bellator lawyers

Scott Coker has said about all he is going to say regarding Quinton “Rampage” Jackson.

The Bellator MMA president told MMA Fighting on Monday that Jackson’s case has been “turned over to our attorneys” and he has been told not to speak about it.

“I wish I could comment more,” Coker said. “The lawyers don’t want us to comment on him right now. It’s going to be in the [legal] process.”

The UFC announced it had re-signed Jackson on Saturday night during the UFC Fight Night: Machida vs. Dollaway broadcast on FOX Sports 1. A taped interview with “Rampage” was aired during the event and then he commented further later on FOX Sports Live. Jackson said he had terminated his contract with Bellator MMA, owned by broadcast giant Viacom, because the promotion did not honor his contract.

Coker contended that same night on Twitter that Jackson remained under “exclusive contract” with Bellator.

Let us be clear that Quinton “Rampage” Jackson is under an exclusive contract with #BellatorMMA. We will protect our contractual rights

— Scott Coker (@ScottCoker) December 21, 2014

In an interview with MMA Fighting, Coker compared Jackson’s situation with one involving Randy Couture and Mark Cuban’s HDNet in 2007. Couture resigned from the UFC, citing his lack of compensation, the UFC’s inability to sign Fedor Emelianenko and what he called a lack of respect from UFC brass and attempted to sign with HDNet for what was believed to be a megafight against Emelianenko in Dallas.

Couture planned to wait until his fight contract and promotional/broadcasting contract ended, so he could compete for Cuban’s promotion. The UFC contended that Couture would remain under contract until he fulfilled the terms of his fight contract, which included two more fights.

Cuban filed suit against the UFC in 2008 to get a judgment on Couture’s contractual status. The UFC also sued Couture for breach of contract and irreparable damage. In August 2008, the UFC won its lawsuit against Cuban with a Texas appeals court granting parent company Zuffa’s request for a stay against a motion for a declaratory judgment. A month later, Couture signed a new, three-fight contract with the UFC.

“I’m sure you’ve seen this before in the sport,” Coker said.

The two scenarios are not completely the same. Jackson is claiming that Bellator did not honor his contract. And MMA Fighting’s Ariel Helwani reported over the weekend that the biggest point in Jackson’s argument is that Bellator refused to provide the pay-per-view numbers for Bellator 120 when he fought against Muhammed Lawal as contracted. Coker could not comment on that or anything specific about the case.

“Rampage” said on FOX Sports Live that his manager tried to fix the issue with Bellator, but after 45 days nothing was solved. That period, Jackson said, was contracted as the window in which the two parties had to settle a contract dispute.

“You sign a contract for a reason,” Jackson said. “You’re bound by law to do what you say you’re going to do. If you can’t honor your contract, that’s the type of company I don’t really want to be associated with.”

Jackson released a full statement on his website on Sunday “so Scott Coker can shut up,” he wrote on Twitter.

Official statement on my UFC signing and what’s happening at http://t.co/2iCm2dLQDw (so Scott Coker can shut up)

— Quinton Jackson (@Rampage4real) December 21, 2014

Clearly, Bellator is going to argue that it was not in breach and honored the deal. If lawyers have already gotten involved, things are likely to get messy. If the litigation with Couture, Cuban and the UFC is any indication, this case could be tied up in courts for months or even longer.

“Once it gets turned over to the lawyers out of your hands,” Coker said. “There’s nothing you can do.”

Scott Coker has said about all he is going to say regarding Quinton “Rampage” Jackson.

The Bellator MMA president told MMA Fighting on Monday that Jackson’s case has been “turned over to our attorneys” and he has been told not to speak about it.

“I wish I could comment more,” Coker said. “The lawyers don’t want us to comment on him right now. It’s going to be in the [legal] process.”

The UFC announced it had re-signed Jackson on Saturday night during the UFC Fight Night: Machida vs. Dollaway broadcast on FOX Sports 1. A taped interview with “Rampage” was aired during the event and then he commented further later on FOX Sports Live. Jackson said he had terminated his contract with Bellator MMA, owned by broadcast giant Viacom, because the promotion did not honor his contract.

Coker contended that same night on Twitter that Jackson remained under “exclusive contract” with Bellator.

In an interview with MMA Fighting, Coker compared Jackson’s situation with one involving Randy Couture and Mark Cuban’s HDNet in 2007. Couture resigned from the UFC, citing his lack of compensation, the UFC’s inability to sign Fedor Emelianenko and what he called a lack of respect from UFC brass and attempted to sign with HDNet for what was believed to be a megafight against Emelianenko in Dallas.

Couture planned to wait until his fight contract and promotional/broadcasting contract ended, so he could compete for Cuban’s promotion. The UFC contended that Couture would remain under contract until he fulfilled the terms of his fight contract, which included two more fights.

Cuban filed suit against the UFC in 2008 to get a judgment on Couture’s contractual status. The UFC also sued Couture for breach of contract and irreparable damage. In August 2008, the UFC won its lawsuit against Cuban with a Texas appeals court granting parent company Zuffa’s request for a stay against a motion for a declaratory judgment. A month later, Couture signed a new, three-fight contract with the UFC.

“I’m sure you’ve seen this before in the sport,” Coker said.

The two scenarios are not completely the same. Jackson is claiming that Bellator did not honor his contract. And MMA Fighting’s Ariel Helwani reported over the weekend that the biggest point in Jackson’s argument is that Bellator refused to provide the pay-per-view numbers for Bellator 120 when he fought against Muhammed Lawal as contracted. Coker could not comment on that or anything specific about the case.

“Rampage” said on FOX Sports Live that his manager tried to fix the issue with Bellator, but after 45 days nothing was solved. That period, Jackson said, was contracted as the window in which the two parties had to settle a contract dispute.

“You sign a contract for a reason,” Jackson said. “You’re bound by law to do what you say you’re going to do. If you can’t honor your contract, that’s the type of company I don’t really want to be associated with.”

Jackson released a full statement on his website on Sunday “so Scott Coker can shut up,” he wrote on Twitter.

Clearly, Bellator is going to argue that it was not in breach and honored the deal. If lawyers have already gotten involved, things are likely to get messy. If the litigation with Couture, Cuban and the UFC is any indication, this case could be tied up in courts for months or even longer.

“Once it gets turned over to the lawyers out of your hands,” Coker said. “There’s nothing you can do.”

Rampage Jackson: Bellator didn’t honor my contract, so I terminated it

Quinton Jackson is no longer under contract with Bellator MMA — at least as far as “Rampage” is concerned.

Jackson said Saturday night on FOX Sports Live that Bellator did not honor his deal and, after 45 days of his manager trying and failing to fix things, he terminated the pact. The UFC announced Saturday night during the UFC Fight Night: Machida vs. Dollaway broadcast that “Rampage” had re-signed with the organization.

“I haven’t been happy with my contract at Bellator for awhile, since after the pay-per-view with King Mo,” Jackson said. “Bjorn Rebney, I don’t know what happened. He left Bellator, got fired — I don’t know. The contract just wasn’t right. My manager and I, we were trying to fix it. Bellator, they didn’t want to fix it in 45 days. I terminated the contract.”

Jackson fought and beat Muhammed Lawal at the Bellator 120 pay-per-view on May 17. Rebney was ousted as Bellator president by parent company Viacom a month later and replaced by former Strikeforce head Scott Coker.

MMA Fighting’s Ariel Helwani reported on Twitter that Jackson’s main beef with Bellator is that the promotion did not provide the pay-per-view numbers after the Lawal fight as it was contracted to do.

I’m told the main issue here is Rampage is claiming Bellator refused to provide the PPV #s for the Lawal fight …

— Ariel Helwani (@arielhelwani) December 21, 2014

… which they were contracted to do. So when that became clear, he terminated the contract. More in here: http://t.co/oLR3Kxxurl

— Ariel Helwani (@arielhelwani) December 21, 2014

“It’s just one of those things where people don’t honor their contracts and it’s just not cool,” Jackson said. “You can be a big company and that means you don’t have to honor your contracts?

“The UFC, the one thing about them, they did honor their contract no matter what things went wrong with them. At least they did honor their contract. You sign a contract for a reason. You’re bound by law to do what you say you’re going to do. If you can’t honor your contract, that’s the type of company I don’t really want to be associated with.”

Coker tweeted Saturday night that Jackson was still under an exclusive contract with Bellator and that the organization would protect their contractual rights, perhaps alluding to litigation.

Let us be clear that Quinton “Rampage” Jackson is under an exclusive contract with #BellatorMMA. We will protect our contractual rights

— Scott Coker (@ScottCoker) December 21, 2014

Jackson (35-11), the former UFC light heavyweight champion, did not leave the UFC under good terms the first time. After his contract expired following a loss to Glover Teixeira in January 2013, “Rampage” signed with Bellator in June 2013 and ripped the UFC for killing his brand and contributing to the demise of the sport of MMA.

UFC president Dana White and Jackson went back and forth in the media a few times, based mainly around how much White said Jackson got paid as a UFC fighter — upwards of $15.2 million over a five-year span. Jackson denied that figure. But “Rampage” said he and White never had any personal issues.

“We were always cool,” Jackson said. “I understand, it was just business. I didn’t like that the UFC kind of changed the picture, like I retired, saying I got cut from UFC. But I didn’t take it personally. I don’t take business personal most of the time. I didn’t have any bad blood with Dana White. I just wished that things were a bit different.”

Jackson said he and White have not really spoken. But the UFC boss got in touch with Jackson’s people when “Rampage” tweeted his unhappiness with Bellator in November.

Just a thought.. But I’ve learned a big lesson in life and business: sometimes u should just stay with the devil u know @ufc

— Quinton Jackson (@Rampage4real) November 18, 2014

Jackson won three in a row in Bellator after falling in three straight to cap his first run in the UFC. “Rampage” said he could return to the Octagon in “early 2015.”

“I want to come back and fight as soon as possible,” Jackson said. “I’ve been missing the training camps and getting out there. I only got a few more years left in me. I want to put on some exciting fights.”

Quinton Jackson is no longer under contract with Bellator MMA — at least as far as “Rampage” is concerned.

Jackson said Saturday night on FOX Sports Live that Bellator did not honor his deal and, after 45 days of his manager trying and failing to fix things, he terminated the pact. The UFC announced Saturday night during the UFC Fight Night: Machida vs. Dollaway broadcast that “Rampage” had re-signed with the organization.

“I haven’t been happy with my contract at Bellator for awhile, since after the pay-per-view with King Mo,” Jackson said. “Bjorn Rebney, I don’t know what happened. He left Bellator, got fired — I don’t know. The contract just wasn’t right. My manager and I, we were trying to fix it. Bellator, they didn’t want to fix it in 45 days. I terminated the contract.”

Jackson fought and beat Muhammed Lawal at the Bellator 120 pay-per-view on May 17. Rebney was ousted as Bellator president by parent company Viacom a month later and replaced by former Strikeforce head Scott Coker.

MMA Fighting’s Ariel Helwani reported on Twitter that Jackson’s main beef with Bellator is that the promotion did not provide the pay-per-view numbers after the Lawal fight as it was contracted to do.

“It’s just one of those things where people don’t honor their contracts and it’s just not cool,” Jackson said. “You can be a big company and that means you don’t have to honor your contracts?

“The UFC, the one thing about them, they did honor their contract no matter what things went wrong with them. At least they did honor their contract. You sign a contract for a reason. You’re bound by law to do what you say you’re going to do. If you can’t honor your contract, that’s the type of company I don’t really want to be associated with.”

Coker tweeted Saturday night that Jackson was still under an exclusive contract with Bellator and that the organization would protect their contractual rights, perhaps alluding to litigation.

Jackson (35-11), the former UFC light heavyweight champion, did not leave the UFC under good terms the first time. After his contract expired following a loss to Glover Teixeira in January 2013, “Rampage” signed with Bellator in June 2013 and ripped the UFC for killing his brand and contributing to the demise of the sport of MMA.

UFC president Dana White and Jackson went back and forth in the media a few times, based mainly around how much White said Jackson got paid as a UFC fighter — upwards of $15.2 million over a five-year span. Jackson denied that figure. But “Rampage” said he and White never had any personal issues.

“We were always cool,” Jackson said. “I understand, it was just business. I didn’t like that the UFC kind of changed the picture, like I retired, saying I got cut from UFC. But I didn’t take it personally. I don’t take business personal most of the time. I didn’t have any bad blood with Dana White. I just wished that things were a bit different.”

Jackson said he and White have not really spoken. But the UFC boss got in touch with Jackson’s people when “Rampage” tweeted his unhappiness with Bellator in November.

Jackson won three in a row in Bellator after falling in three straight to cap his first run in the UFC. “Rampage” said he could return to the Octagon in “early 2015.”

“I want to come back and fight as soon as possible,” Jackson said. “I’ve been missing the training camps and getting out there. I only got a few more years left in me. I want to put on some exciting fights.”

UFC Fight Night 58 results: Lyoto Machida knocks out C.B. Dollaway in 62 seconds

It hasn’t been “The Machida Era” in about half a decade. But “The Dragon” is still one of the best in the world.
Machida cemented his status as a major threat in the middleweight division by destroying C.B. Dollaway in just 62 seconds in the…

It hasn’t been “The Machida Era” in about half a decade. But “The Dragon” is still one of the best in the world.

Machida cemented his status as a major threat in the middleweight division by destroying C.B. Dollaway in just 62 seconds in the main event of UFC Fight Night: Machida vs. Dollaway on Saturday night in Barueri, Brazil. Machida landed a left kick to the body that clearly hurt Dollaway and Machida pounced with punches.

“That kick landed, I saw that he felt it and I went for the finish,” Machida told Jon Anik afterward.

Machida (22-5), the former UFC light heavyweight champion, was coming off a unanimous decision loss to Chris Weidman in a UFC middleweight title fight at UFC 175 in July. This victory keeps the 36-year-old extremely relevant in the 185-pound hunt, just behind the likes of Ronaldo “Jacare” Souza and Yoel Romero, who meet at UFC 184 in what could be a title eliminator. The next opponent for Machida very well could be fellow contender Luke Rockhold, who called “The Dragon” out on Twitter after the Dollaway knockout.

“My main objective is always the belt,” Machida said.

Dollaway (15-6) had won four of his last five fights to announce himself as a true top-10 fighter in the UFC’s middleweight division. The 31-year-old has added better boxing and Muay Thai to his dominant wrestling game. But we never got to see it. Machida didn’t give him a chance.

In the co-main event, Renan Barao made his return by beating Mitch Gagnon by submission (arm triangle) at 3:53 of the third round. The former UFC bantamweight champion has had a rough 2014, losing his title to T.J. Dillashaw in May and then withdrawing from the rematch due to a weight-cutting injury in August.

Barao (33-2, 1 NC) didn’t quite look like the force of nature he was before when he was considered by some as the best pound-for-pound fighter in the world, but he got the job done against a game Gagnon (12-3). Barao, 27, has huge fights ahead of him in 2015 and he addressed Dillashaw afterward.

“Dillashaw, I have two gifts for you — my left hand and my right hand,” Barao said through an interpreter. “I’m going to shut up your mouth.”

Perhaps so does Patrick Cummins, who schooled Ultimate Fighter Brazil 3 winner Antonio Carlos Jr. by unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27) with suffocating wrestling on the main card Saturday. Cummins (7-1) is 34 years old, but seems to have a decently sized ceiling in a thin light heavyweight division.

Rashid Magomedov made a little history in Barueri, defeating Elias Silverio by TKO at 4:57 of the third round. It was the latest finish in UFC history.

Also on the main card, Erick Silva beat Mike Rhodes by submission (arm triangle) in just 1:15 of the first round and Marcos Rogerio de Lima defeated Igor Pokrajac by TKO at 1:59 of the first. Daniel Sarafian won by TKO (injury) when Antonio Dos Santos dislocated his finger at 1:01 of the second round.

On the prelims, Brazilian prospect Renato Carneiro took out Tim Niinimaki by submission (rear-naked choke) at 3:30 of the second, Hacran Dias knocked off ranked featherweight Darren Elkins by unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 30-27) and Leandro Issa finished Yuta Sasaki via submission (neck crank) at 4:13 of the second round.

Tim Means maybe should have knocked out Marcio Alexandre in the first round, but a knee was called illegal and Alexandre was given new life. Still, Means dominated the rest of the bout and won by split decision (29-28, 28-29, 29-28).

In the opener, Vitor Miranda knocked out Jake Collier with a head kick at 4:55 of the first round.

Rampage Jackson re-signs with the UFC

He’s back.

The mercurial Quinton Jackson has signed again with the UFC and announced the news Saturday night at UFC Fight Night: Machida vs. Dollaway in an interview on the FOX Sports 1 broadcast. “Rampage” had been competing for Bellator MMA and is still under contract with the organization, Bellator president Scott Coker tweeted. He has not been released.

Coker said that Bellator will “protect our contractual rights.”

Let us be clear that Quinton “Rampage” Jackson is under an exclusive contract with #BellatorMMA. We will protect our contractual rights

— Scott Coker (@ScottCoker) December 21, 2014

Jackson remains one of the most well-known names in MMA. He’s a former UFC light heavyweight champion and 2003 PRIDE middleweight grand prix runner-up. “Rampage” has victories in his career over the likes of Chuck Liddell, Lyoto Machida, Wanderlei Silva and Dan Henderson.

“I belong here,” Jackson said of the UFC during the fight broadcast.

Jackson, 36, did not leave the UFC under good terms. He lost three straight in the organization and his contract was up after a unanimous decision defeat against Glover Teixeira on Jan. 26, 2013. Jackson signed with Bellator in June 2013, slamming the UFC for killing the sport of MMA and ruining his brand.

As recently as October, “Rampage” blasted the UFC for not paying him enough money and lying about how much he was compensated. UFC president Dana White, who has had an up-and-down relationship with Jackson over the years, said last year that “Rampage” had made $15.2 million between 2007 and 2012 in the UFC.

“If I had just quit fighting for the UFC and retired, I wouldn’t be able to retire for the rest of my life,” Jackson told Fight Hub TV. “I don’t think so just because of how many kids I’ve got and what I plan on doing. Especially not off my MMA money; not after you pay your taxes, coaches, manager their percentage, you don’t walk away with the number that they (UFC) say that they pay you. The UFC put out a big number that I made over the years, and honestly I don’t believe that it’s true. They lie about a lot of stuff. It is just propaganda.”

Jackson (35-11), though, began to change his tune publicly last month when he tweeted “sometimes u should just stay with the devil u know,” referring to the UFC. “Rampage” was reportedly unhappy with Bellator’s leadership change from Bjorn Rebney to Coker.

Just a thought.. But I’ve learned a big lesson in life and business: sometimes u should just stay with the devil u know @ufc

— Quinton Jackson (@Rampage4real) November 18, 2014

“You guys have no idea how excited I am to be back,” Jackson said on FOX Sports 1. “I just want to come back and come to the big show. The thing about Rampage is, Rampage always comes to excite the fans. I love the fans.”

In Bellator, Jackson won three straight, including a unanimous decision victory over rival Muhammed Lawal at Bellator 120 in May. He was set to fight for the Bellator light heavyweight title next, but it’s currently held by his friend and training partner Emanuel Newton.

Jackson was not a part of Bellator’s big event headlined by Tito Ortiz and Stephan Bonnar on Nov. 15 in San Diego. He was initially supposed to face Ortiz in both of their Bellator debuts in November 2013 until Ortiz got hurt.

He’s back.

The mercurial Quinton Jackson has signed again with the UFC and announced the news Saturday night at UFC Fight Night: Machida vs. Dollaway in an interview on the FOX Sports 1 broadcast. “Rampage” had been competing for Bellator MMA and is still under contract with the organization, Bellator president Scott Coker tweeted. He has not been released.

Coker said that Bellator will “protect our contractual rights.”

Jackson remains one of the most well-known names in MMA. He’s a former UFC light heavyweight champion and 2003 PRIDE middleweight grand prix runner-up. “Rampage” has victories in his career over the likes of Chuck Liddell, Lyoto Machida, Wanderlei Silva and Dan Henderson.

“I belong here,” Jackson said of the UFC during the fight broadcast.

Jackson, 36, did not leave the UFC under good terms. He lost three straight in the organization and his contract was up after a unanimous decision defeat against Glover Teixeira on Jan. 26, 2013. Jackson signed with Bellator in June 2013, slamming the UFC for killing the sport of MMA and ruining his brand.

As recently as October, “Rampage” blasted the UFC for not paying him enough money and lying about how much he was compensated. UFC president Dana White, who has had an up-and-down relationship with Jackson over the years, said last year that “Rampage” had made $15.2 million between 2007 and 2012 in the UFC.

“If I had just quit fighting for the UFC and retired, I wouldn’t be able to retire for the rest of my life,” Jackson told Fight Hub TV. “I don’t think so just because of how many kids I’ve got and what I plan on doing. Especially not off my MMA money; not after you pay your taxes, coaches, manager their percentage, you don’t walk away with the number that they (UFC) say that they pay you. The UFC put out a big number that I made over the years, and honestly I don’t believe that it’s true. They lie about a lot of stuff. It is just propaganda.”

Jackson (35-11), though, began to change his tune publicly last month when he tweeted “sometimes u should just stay with the devil u know,” referring to the UFC. “Rampage” was reportedly unhappy with Bellator’s leadership change from Bjorn Rebney to Coker.

“You guys have no idea how excited I am to be back,” Jackson said on FOX Sports 1. “I just want to come back and come to the big show. The thing about Rampage is, Rampage always comes to excite the fans. I love the fans.”

In Bellator, Jackson won three straight, including a unanimous decision victory over rival Muhammed Lawal at Bellator 120 in May. He was set to fight for the Bellator light heavyweight title next, but it’s currently held by his friend and training partner Emanuel Newton.

Jackson was not a part of Bellator’s big event headlined by Tito Ortiz and Stephan Bonnar on Nov. 15 in San Diego. He was initially supposed to face Ortiz in both of their Bellator debuts in November 2013 until Ortiz got hurt.

Rashad Evans vs. Glover Teixeira to headline UFC’s first trip to Porto Alegre, Brazil

Rashad Evans is back. And now it’s official.
Evans will return to the Octagon for the first time in more than a year to meet Glover Teixeira in the main event of UFC Fight Night 61 on Feb. 22 in Porto Alegre, Brazil, the UFC announced Friday…

Rashad Evans is back. And now it’s official.

Evans will return to the Octagon for the first time in more than a year to meet Glover Teixeira in the main event of UFC Fight Night 61 on Feb. 22 in Porto Alegre, Brazil, the UFC announced Friday. It will be the UFC’s first trip to the city. The main card will air live on FOX Sports 1. The bout was first reported by Globo.

Evans (19-3-1), the former UFC light heavyweight champion, has not competed since beating Chael Sonnen at UFC 167 on Nov. 16, 2013. He was scheduled to face Daniel Cormier last February, but injured his knee just 10 days before the bout and needed surgery. “Suga” was also linked to a bout with Alexander Gustafsson in January, but Evans, 35, would not have been ready in time.

Instead, he’ll get Teixeira (22-4), who has lost two straight. The Brazilian is coming off a unanimous decision defeat against Phil Davis at UFC 179 in November. Previously, he fell to Jon Jones in a light heavyweight title fight at UFC 172 in April. Teixeira, 35, had won 20 straight fights before that, including five in a row in the UFC, to earn the title shot against Jones. He’ll now try to get back on track against Evans.

Evans-Teixeira is the first bout announced for UFC Fight Night 61. The event will take place at Gigantinho Gymnasium.

Yoel Romero: Tim Kennedy cheated before ‘Stoolgate’ incident at UFC 178

Yoel Romero spent almost 30 extra seconds on his stool before the start of the third round against Tim Kennedy. The way Romero sees it he should have gotten five full minutes of rest.
Romero told MMA Fighting that he believes the punches Ken…

Yoel Romero spent almost 30 extra seconds on his stool before the start of the third round against Tim Kennedy. The way Romero sees it he should have gotten five full minutes of rest.

Romero told MMA Fighting that he believes the punches Kennedy rocked him with in the second round of their UFC 178 fight were illegal. Kennedy was holding onto Romero’s glove, an illegal maneuver, with his left hand while he was punching Romero with his right. A .gif of the sequence surfaced after the fact online, but Romero had not commented on it until now.

“When an athlete hits the opponent illegally, the opponent that gets hit gets five minutes of a break to recover,” Romero said through an interpreter of the Sept. 27 bout in Las Vegas.

The fight’s big controversy came after Romero survived the second round. The UFC’s cutman appeared to put too much Vaseline on Romero’s face, prompting referee John McCarthy to tell Romero’s cornermen to wipe it off. There seemed to be some kind of communication error, because Romero was left alone in the Octagon on his stool as McCarthy was restarting the fight for the third round.

By the time someone came in to clean off Romero’s face and remove the stool, Romero had nearly 30 extra seconds to recuperate from the second-round throttling. Kennedy was irate. Then, Romero knocked him out just 38 seconds into the third round. Kennedy contemplated appealing the result of the fight, but things like that rarely get overturned by the Nevada Athletic Commission (NAC).

Romero came over to Kennedy to apologize for the mistake in the back after the fight. The moment, with an angry Kennedy yelling at Romero, was captured on video by UFC cameras. Romero continues to defend himself for the incident.

“The people who made the mistake were the cutmen from the UFC,” Romero said. “The referee noticed too much Vaseline. The cutman was already leaving and McCarthy called him back to clean off the Vaseline. He noticed the cutman already leaving. When the cutman leaves, who’s supposed to take the Vaseline off my cut? My cornermen and trainer were there, but they’re not qualified to take off the Vaseline from my cut. The one who cleans and puts on Vaseline is only the cutman from the UFC. McCarthy insisted and my trainer said, ‘OK, I’ll take it off.'”

UFC president Dana White admitted afterward that the UFC was partially at fault for the bizarre turn of events. Romero stands by his statement that he did nothing wrong intentionally.

“The people who critique me are the people who don’t know about the sport,” Romero said. “They don’t really know about the rules of MMA. They aren’t a real fan or follower of the sport or they’re just people who like to talk.”

Romero said Kennedy began holding his glove when the two were against the cage right before Kennedy dropped him with punches.

“Look at the video,” Romero said. “He was holding my glove illegally. When I’m against the cage, Tim Kennedy held my glove and when he holds the glove, he got lucky and I escaped before the referee saw it. Then I did it to Kennedy. When I did it to Tim Kennedy, he told the referee, ‘He held my glove.'”

That led to the sequence where Kennedy chased Romero across the cage, holding onto his glove with one hand and connecting with punches with the other. Romero said he isn’t sure if it was on purpose. And he’s not necessarily interested in a rematch.

“This is nothing personal,” Romero said. “If the UFC matchmaker puts me against Tim Kennedy, I will do it. I have no problem with that. I have nothing against nobody in the UFC. This is a sport for me.”

Romero has moved on. He’ll meet Ronaldo “Jacare” Souza at UFC 184 on Feb. 28 in Los Angeles in what probably amounts to a middleweight No. 1 contender bout. The 37-year-old former Olympic wrestling silver medalist is focused on the title and not what people are saying about him following “Stoolgate.”

“I’m not mad and I’ve never been mad that people think I’m cheating,” Romero said. “To be sincere, I’ve never been mad about what anyone thinks.”