Tim Kennedy could be held out of action for six months after suffering a controversial third-round TKO loss to Yoel Romero at UFC 178, according to information released to MMAFighting.com by the Nevada Athletic Commission.
Kennedy appeared to be on the verge of knocking Romero out in the closing moments of round two of the pair’s middleweight contest, however Romero survived to the horn, then was awarded almost a minute-and-a-half to recover between rounds due to a series of bizarre circumstances which UFC President Dana White called “the dirtiest trick in the book.”
“I don’t care what language you speak, you know what ‘get the hell outta here means.’ You know what time you’re supposed to be out of the Octagon, you know how much time you had,” White said.
Kennedy lost the fight shortly after the third round began, marking the first TKO loss of his career since his professional debut in 2001. The 35-year-old will now be required to clear the broken left orbital he suffered with an ophthalmologist or plastic surgeon, or be sidelined until late-March 2015.
“If you can’t get off the stool in a minute, the fight is over,” Kennedy said immediately after the fight. “Not a minute and a half, not two minutes, not two and a half minutes while your coaches are still putting Vaseline on you and toweling you off. That fight should’ve been over, period.”
A complete list of UFC 178 medical suspensions can be seen below.
- Tim Kennedy: Required to clear left orbital inferior blow out fracture with ophthalmologist or plastic surgeon or no contest until 03/27; minimum suspension no contest until 11/12; no contest until 10/28
- Cat Zingano: Required to clear upper back with doctor or no contest until 03/27
- Stephen Thompson: Required to clear right eye with ophthalmologist, required to have right hand x-rayed and cleared by doctor or no contest until 03/27
- Jon Tuck: Required to clear right shoulder and right foot with doctor or no contest until 03/27
- Takeya Mizugaki: Suspended until 11/27; no contact until 11/12
- Eddie Alvarez: Suspended until 11/12; no contact until 10/28
- Dustin Poirier: Suspended until 11/12; no contact until 10/28
- Yoel Romero: Suspended until 11/12; no contact until 10/28 due to left eyebrow laceration
- Amanda Nunes: Suspended until 11/12; no contact until 10/28 due to left eyebrow laceration
- James Krause: Suspended until 10/28; no contact until 10/19
- Patrick Cote: Suspended until 10/28; no contact 10/19
- Cody Gibson: Suspended until 10/28; no contact until 10/13