I was a pro fighter, smart kid, just finished my undergrad studies. Tim Kennedy: I was a douchebag, I think, if I had to summarize myself as a particular type of person. RECOIL: What made you want to serve your country by enlisting in the U.S Army? 11, I found myself standing in front of a recruiter’s office, trying to find out how I could get on the first plane over there,” Tim says of his initial decision to enlist. I had an amazing dad, an amazing mom, an amazing brother, an amazing sister - and then there was me. “I had no excuse to be the way that I was. Army Green Berets as an 18B (senior Special Forces weapons sergeant). 11, the wayward young Tim not only found his purpose in life, he found himself - as a member of the U.S. All admirable feats for sure, but none of them compare to the praise that can be bestowed on Kennedy’s fights outside of the octagon.Īfter answering the altar call of Sept. 1 contender for the UFC welterweight title and a former EliteXC middleweight champion). Plus, he’s beaten the likes of Rafael Natal (a dangerous BJJ black belt), Michael Bisping (the winner of The Ultimate Fighter 3 and a former Cage Rage light-heavyweight champion), and Robbie Lawler (the No. During his early training sessions in California, Tim fought alongside household names like Chuck Liddell and Jake Shields, in addition to sluggers such as Nick Diaz and Gilbert Melendez. “He knew I was going to do what I had to do and from that moment on, he knew he had me.” Still, fighters often “do what they have to do,” and Tim is certainly no exception.Ī standout in the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC), Tim has beaten some of MMA’s best and brightest in the middleweight division, becoming a headline fighter himself over the years. “Man, I regret that decision so much,” Tim says laughing. No doubt, then, that it must have taken all the strength in the world for his proud father not to smile during the young boy’s first deer hunt, when Tim had a clear shot on a young buck, but chose to pass by simply saying, “I want to wait for an older one.” Of course, the Kennedy patriarch was probably less proud when the teenaged Tim decided to part with the classic car the two built together in favor of a lowered Geo Storm, complete with neon lights and a subwoofer big enough to provoke a California fault line. “‘Just because you can, doesn’t mean you should.’” “My dad always had this saying,” Tim says while eating an apple the next morning en route to Best of The West Shooting Range on the Austin outskirts of Liberty Hill. Choosing instead to wear a pink belt for eight years “with other black belts’ blood on it,” Tim all but eschewed BJJ until he met Paulo Brandau and Royler Gracie, who reaffirmed his own belief that a black belt should be earned, not given. He’s far removed from the currently drought-stricken region he once called home, and from that lanky adolescent frame as well it’s safe to say that he has been even further removed on many other occasions.Īfter a quick break for water, Tim recounts his former disdain for the belt, stemming solely from the charity and “sponsored” black belts other high-profile mixed martial arts (MMA) athletes have had thrown at them and subsequently accepted over the years. ![]() It is the same place where he received the coveted Brazilian jiu-jitsu (BJJ) black belt, fulfilling the longstanding martial arts aspirations of an 8-year-old boy from Central California. It is 9:42 p.m., and Tim Kennedy is just wrapping up a grueling 60-minute session with an opponent inside Gracie Humaitá Austin, in Austin, Texas, after teaching a self-defense class at the school.
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