UFC veteran Tim Kennedy recently announced his retirement from the sport after suffering a third round TKO loss to Kelvin Gastelum at UFC 206. Kennedy, who is a part of the Mixed Martial Arts Athletes Association, says that they made an error in judgment in some of their initial choices.
“It was a mistake during the announcement to have him (Bjorn Rebney) be a public presence,” Kennedy said on The MMA Hour. “We obviously regretted that. But he will still be somebody that the board members will go to and ask, ‘As a promoter, did you do this?’ I need that information and he will be the guy that I am going to ask those questions to. But he has no authority and he has no position within the Mixed Martial Arts Athletes Association and he has no vote.”
Kennedy, while admitting the mistake, says that Rebney is still a part of the group.
“He’s never been a part in a sense that he has any authority or ability to affect anything,” Kennedy said. “The only people that can vote are board members and the only ones people that can be board members are fighters. His role has not changed. But I regret that he was a distraction.”
Kennedy, before retiring, did challenge twice for the Strikeforce Middleweight Title, but lost both times to Luke Rockhold and Ronaldo Souza.
