LAS VEGAS -- Tim Kennedy will never know for sure what an extra 25 seconds on a stool did for Yoel Romero. No one will.

Kennedy (18-5) is irate following a situation that occurred prior to the third round of his TKO loss to Romero (9-1) at UFC 178 on Saturday. Unfortunately for Kennedy, what's done is most likely done.

At the end of the second round, Kennedy hurt Romero badly with uppercuts to the chin and two hard right crosses. Romero, who was arguably tiring from the pace of the fight prior to the punches, was saved by the bell and wobbled over to his corner, where a UFC cut man applied a large amount of Vaseline over his left eye.

Romero was still being tended to when the Nevada timekeeper's whistle blew, signaling all cornermen to leave the cage.

At that point, a few things happened that would later incite Kennedy. First, Romero's corner did not remove his stool, which is probably the greatest infraction. Referee John McCarthy walked toward Romero and pointed out what he believed to be an excessive amount of Vaseline on the cut. McCarthy and the Nevada inspector then signaled one of Romero's cornermen to come back into the cage to wipe off the excess Vaseline.

The specific cornerman called back did not speak English, according to Nevada State Athletic Commission executive director Bob Bennett. As time clicked away, with Romero still on the stool and Kennedy raising his arms, McCarthy took it upon himself to wipe the Vaseline off and eventually start the fight. The sequence gave Romero approximately 25 to 28 extra seconds of recovery time.

Romero came out and promptly stunned Kennedy with a straight left/right hook combination. He finished the fight via strikes less than a minute into the final round.

Kennedy quickly referred to statute NAC 467.728 on Twitter, which reads: If an unarmed combatant fails or refuses to resume competing when the bell sounds signaling the commencement of the next round, the referee shall award a decision of technical knockout to his or her opponent.

Bennett told ESPN.com he and the NSAC legal counsel would review tape of the incident "in the near future," but only as standard procedure and not necessarily in response to a formal Kennedy appeal, which he is expected to submit. Bennett added he felt McCarthy, as the acting referee, handled the situation appropriately.

"Quite frankly, I think John did a good job," Bennett said. "We could play devil's advocate and ask, 'Why is he touching a fighter who has a cut and removing Vaseline?' But I thought he took appropriate measures and got that fight moving as quickly as he could."

When asked if the extra time was significant in allowing him a chance to recover, Romero simply stated, "I don't know."

Kennedy, who at least was paid a $50,000 UFC bonus for being involved in the "Fight of the Night," is highly unlikely to win any kind of formal appeal. Although he certainly has reason to complain, it was a UFC cutman who applied too much Vaseline, and it would be difficult to blame Romero for remaining on the stool when the NSAC inspector didn't forcefully remove him from it when the timekeeper's whistle blew. There was stern instruction to the cornermen to remove themselves from the cage, but the physical stool Romero sat on went largely unnoticed until time had gone by and McCarthy removed the Vaseline.

Bennett, who emphasized the fact he would have to review the tape, pointed out the low success rate of appeals in general within the state.

"At this point in time, I defer that to our legal department," Bennett said. "Historically, if you look at the number of appeals submitted to our office and that have [gotten a call] overruled, I think it's slim to none if I'm not mistaken. There is a rule under Nevada administrative code [that allows an appeal] but very seldom does an appeal [overrule a call]."

UFC president Dana White acknowledged the fact that corner "stalling" is "one of the dirtiest tricks in the book," but said the fact it was a UFC cutman who made the error of applying too much Vaseline changes the dynamic of the situation, as opposed to it having been one of Romero's cornermen who did it. He was non-committal on the idea of a rematch.

"I think the thing that throws a kink in this whole thing is that it was our guy putting Vaseline on," White said. "It's a very unfortunate, odd thing. It never happens. Who knows? I would love to see how [Romero] feels [about a rematch], and I'm sure Kennedy wants a rematch. Who knows?"