Nevada State Athletic Commission Executive Director Bob Bennett feels the chances are “very slim” that the governing body would overrule a Yoel Romero Round 3 TKO over Tim Kennedy at UFC 178—in the event an appeal is filed by Kennedy’s camp.
Bennett told MMA Fighting that he would be surprised to see the result of the entertaining middleweight scrap overturned.
“They’re very seldom overruled,” Bennett told Shaun Al-Shatti. “The likelihood of an appeal being overturned is very slim. I’m not going to say it’s not going to happen, but like I initially said, it would be deferred to our legal department.”
Bennett was also complimentary of referee “Big” John McCarthy, who he felt got the fight “to continue as quickly as possible.”
A bloody brawl that netted both competitors “Fight of the Night” checks worth $50,000, the fight was controversial since Romero’s corner stalled after a UFC cut man applied Vaseline over the fighter’s left eye between Rounds 2 and 3.
The result saw Romero get at least an extra 25 seconds to recover on his stool before McCarthy took it upon himself to wipe off the excessive amount of Vaseline.
Romero was nearly finished at the end of the second frame after a barrage of heavy punches from Kennedy, but “The Soldier of God” was saved by the bell.
Kennedy has been vocal that the bout should’ve been stopped in between rounds, posting a tweet explaining the NSAC rule on the subject and expressing his displeasure with Romero in a Vine video taken shortly after the fight ended (NSFW language).
The Greg Jackson’s MMA fighter entered the matchup on the strength of a four-fight win streak, recognized as the No. 6 middleweight in the world, according to the UFC’s official rankings.
While Romeo only cracked the list at No. 10, he has now won five fights in a row and is unbeaten since cutting down to 185 pounds.
UFC President Dana White was noncommittal when asked if he would book Kennedy-Romero II, but certainly hasn’t ruled it out either, per ESPN.
John Heinis is a featured columnist for Bleacher Report. He is also the MMA editor for eDraft.com.
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