Tim Kennedy: Chael Sonnen being 'ignorant idiot,' happy to choke him out at Metamoris

Yoel Romero and Tim Kennedy

UFC middleweight Tim Kennedy begs to differ with Chael Sonnen’s opinion that he’s “one cranky and bitter son of a b–ch” about a loss to Yoel Romero.

“Chael is being an ignorant idiot that evidently doesn’t have any idea what he’s talking about,” Kennedy wrote in a text message to MMAjunkie.

The now-retired Sonnen, a three-time title challenger, took Kennedy to task Wednesday for his comments following his UFC 178 fight with Romero that spawned the controversy known as “Stoolgate.”

“Have you seen some of the stuff he’s saying lately? He’s threatening to never come back to the sport because he’s so upset about ‘Stoolgate,'” Sonnen told guest Michael Bisping on his podcast, “You’re Welcome.” “This guy’s one of these guys that, for me, he gets a pass. I’m an American, he’s an American hero. He served the country well. He did some things; he’s a hero. That’s where it ends.

“The guy says some stuff that if he wasn’t a hero – somebody needs to tell him to shut up. Tim, you gotta stop, man. You’re so bitter.”

Bisping agreed with Sonnen, saying Kennedy should have simply given Romero a congratulations and moved on.

“Tim was so worked up about it,” Sonnen continued. “I’m going, ‘Tim, anything that you want to do and all of this anger, man, I’m for it.’ We’re for that before the fight. But when the fight’s done, when the pay-per-views are sold, when the cage is being torn down, shut up. Give the other guy his 15 minutes, whether he earned it or he was gifted it. Give him his 15 minutes and walk away.”

Kennedy (18-5 MMA, 3-1 UFC), a former active-duty Special Forces soldier, said he was greeted with insulting Twitter messages this morning as he prepared to hunt wild pigs on an extended hunting tour in his adopted home state of Texas. Given his relative seclusion, he said, he was surprised to hear Sonnen bash him.

Kennedy joked that Sonnen was correct to call him an American hero, but took issue with the interpretation of his behavior after the fight, referring to a video in which he and Romero have a brief confrontation backstage at the event.

“I didn’t walk back to Yoel – Yoel was chasing me down after the fight trying to apologize for cheating,” Kennedy wrote. “Watch the video. It’s very clear that is exactly what happened.”

“I haven’t said a thing for the past five weeks; all I’ve been doing is hunting. But I guess I shouldn’t worry about it. It’s coming from a retired, PED using felon. Maybe he’s trying to promote a fight in Metamoris, and if that is the case, I will happily choke him out.”

Although Sonnen didn’t clarify exactly how he came to the conclusion that Kennedy was threatening to retire, Kennedy gave additional post-fight comments that spurred rumors of possible retirement.

Kennedy, who suffered a knee injury in his bout with Romero and underwent surgery, told “UFC Tonight” he had “no idea” if he would fight again. In a subsequent interview with the Army Times, he shot down the idea of retirement.

He added that his main goal was to become healthy again and said his commitment to the Texas National Guard could take priority over fighting.

Kennedy’s loss to Romero not only snapped a three-fight win streak, but sparked controversy over the ending of the fight. Romero was saved by the bell at the end of the second round after a powerful flurry from Kennedy and appeared unable to rise from his stool between rounds. He was aided, however, by time taken for his cornerman to leave the octagon and for a UFC cutman to remove excess Vaseline on his brow.

UFC President Dana White subsequently said the promotion bore some responsibility for the delay, which undoubtedly helped Romero recover. Early in the third frame, Romero caught Kennedy with a big punch and followed up to earn a third-round TKO.

Romero is now expected to face Ronaldo “Jacare” Souza in a bout with middleweight title implications.