New Tim Kennedy Interview with Submission Radio
Some topics covered
-Where he's at mentally after taking time off from MMA
-Disappointment with the sport of MMA
-Updates on appealing the Romero fight
-NSAC admitting rules were broken, but not enforcing them
-If Tim would want a rematch with Yoel
-Competing at Metamoris against Sonnen or Forrest Griffin
-How'd he'd feel competing against Sonnen given his history of PED's
-Moving down to Welterweight
-If he would be up for a fight against Hendricks as well as Robbie
-If he believes that Vitor will pass his drug tests and looking like a gay giraffe
-If he would return to fight Anderson
-Prediction for Silva vs Diaz
-His favourite guns
-His recent hunting trip and other hunting related stuff
-Hustling people at the Deer Hunter Arcade game
Some Quotes:
On how Tim feels about the Stool Gate incident a couple months removed and if he’s ready to return
“Nah I’m still pissed off, you know. At the sport, at the ref, but most importantly at myself. You know I made a huge mental error in that fight. I thought the fight was over a few different times. I thought I knocked him out when John pulled me off him. And then after I knocked him out I’m sitting there on the stool, trying to figure out what's going on. You know my corner's celebrating, the fans are celebrating, I’m like "yeah it’s done, cool". I’m watching him telling John and his corner “no mas, no mas” you know like "I’m done, no more, no more". And then me standing up when the bell sounds and walking over there and John telling me "Nope it's done. Go back to your corner". So again I start celebrating. I’m like "whoa, yeah" and then I turn around and we’re supposed to be fighting. You know, I had left the ring before that third round and I had left the ring when the third round didn’t start. When I was supposed to win. Which is a big error on my part. I should have stayed in there - evidently - obviously till I guess, I don’t know when.”
“So I’m really disappointed at the sport, I’m really disappointed in John, I’m really disappointed in myself. So I’m gonna keep hunting. You know I got five more weeks of hunting season. I’m still training. I’m still doing two or three workouts a day when I’m not up in the mountains........ but I’m not there yet.”
If there are any updates on Tim planning to appeal the Romero fight
“No. I haven’t done anything official with the athletic commission - again another level in which I’m disappointed that me as an athlete, I have to appeal a rule violation when they openly acknowledge that there was one. Post fight in their release they said there were a few different rules that were broken that night, and if he wants to appeal the ruling then he's more than welcome to do that. Like how asinine is that, that an athletic commission is like "yeah rules were broken, but we're not going to do anything". Just again stoking the fire of me being pissed off at the sport, you know. It’s wrong that I’m an athlete, that I would have to do anything, so I’m not going to. So I’m a pretty straight forward black and white guy, and when rules are broken it’s how just it’s supposed to be, and I’m not going to do something.....I don’t know. Even worse is that like the MMA community, if I go and appeal it, it’s like I look like the bitch, you know? I’m the one that’s like complaining about the outcome of the fight, you know? That’s not how I am. I’m not complaining, I’m just a straight forward person. I like things being the way that they're supposed to be, which is just and right, which it wasn't the case on that night. So I don't know. It just seems like a lose, lose.”
On the athletic commission not enforcing rules
“I’m told it falls on the responsibility of the athlete. So like I’m supposed to go to the athletic commission and officially appeal and protest something? That’s asinine. It’s the athletic commission's job to make sure that the officiating and judging occurs correctly. It’s not the athlete's job. The athlete's job is supposed to be to go out there and fight, and he’s supposed to execute his athleticism within the guides and limitations of the sport, and those limitations are the rules. But I guess the rules don’t exist. So I guess I’m gonna bring them back to my next fight. Or I’ll just ask Yoel if I can borrow the stool that he’s sitting on and beat him with the stool, and I guess that would be legal as well, but he wouldn't have gotten off so I guess that would be a different stool.”
On if Tim would like to rematch Yoel
“No, I don’t give two shits. I told John McCarthy before the fight "he’s going to cheat when he starts losing". He started cheating when he was losing and I don’t think that would be any different again. I knocked him out at the end of the second round. That should be represented in my record, you know. No I don’t want to fight a cheater again, after a guy I already knocked out. So no on two different levels.”
On fighting at a Metamoris against Sonnen or Griffin
“I would love it. I’ll grapple both those guys on the same day. I’ll wear a speedo when I grapple Chael Sonnen and then I’ll wear a mini-skirt when I grapple Forrest Griffin. I’m totally down for it. I’d have a blast, I love grappling. I have great respect for both those guys and I think we’d put on a great show. So Metamoris, they can call me, they're going to get one response from me which is "yes". And I know that my team is in contact in regarding that and they asked me if I’d be down for it and I just straight up said "yes". You could give me a list of 20 opponents and I’d say yes to all 20 opponents.
On if PED’s would be an issue if he competed in Metamoris with guys like Sonnen
“You know that’s something I would talk to Metamoris about and whatever state we were competing in. Yeah there’d have to be some checks and balances in place regarding the aforementioned drugs. Especially because grappling, Jiu Jitsu is a true martial art, and as much as I enjoy both of those guys as people, I care about the reputation of that sport even more. So I’d want to ensure that we have clean athletes.”
