Yoel Romero earned the biggest win of his UFC career, defeating Tim Kennedy on the main card of UFC 178 in Las Vegas on Saturday.
Following a controversially long break between rounds, wherein Romero’s corner kept the fighter sitting on his stool, the fighter blasted away at Kennedy to earn a technical knockout at 0:58 of the third round.
Romero landed the first significant strikes of the fight, scoring with two overhand lefts on his opponent. Kennedy began to bleed from the nose, and Romero continued maintaining the pace of the fight, adding a takedown with ease to lead after the opening round.
Romero began to slow down in the second, while Kennedy found more opportunities to land strikes on the feet. In the final moments of the round, Kennedy landed an uppercut and followed that up with several strikes to the head. Romero appeared out on his feet, but time expired before he can finish.
Between rounds, Romero’s corner sat the fighter extraordinarily long on his stool. Despite protests from Kennedy and orders from referee John McCarthy to proceed with the fight, Romero continued sitting on his stool while his cornerman wiped him down.
Following the delay by his corner, Romero landed a one-two combination that stunned Kennedy. He continued the attack and swarmed in on Kennedy, finishing the fight with strikes on the ground.
With the win on Saturday, Romero extended his win streak in the Octagon to five.
