Tim Kennedy Interview

Tim Kennedy Gunning for Cummings…for Now
by Matt Kaplan


When Strikeforce middleweight and Bronze Star recipient Tim Kennedy squares off with Zak Cummings in the Strikeforce Challengers main event on September 25, he’ll be doing so as a full-time mixed martial artist for the first time in his career.

“For the past few years, I’ve kind of been playing catch-up with everyone else in the industry, but now I actually get to train!”

On June 19, after being eighteen months away from MMA competition, the popular Strikeforce middleweight answered any lingering questions about ring rust by facing dangerous veteran Nick “The Goat” Thompson.

“I had to fight a very conservative, no-mistake game plan. That was my first fight back, and I couldn’t make any mistakes.”

And he didn’t. After escaping a first-round kimura attempt from Thompson, Kennedy (10-2) dominated the pace and positioning, mounted Thompson, and overwhelmed him with punches in Round Two.

A dominant Kennedy was then slated to face Evangelista “Cyborg” Santos, but the Chute Boxe middleweight was scratched from the fight after suffering a knee injury in training.

“I was excited to fight Cyborg. Stylistically, it was a really great match-up for me, and there’s not really an area I think he could have beaten me in. So I’m disappointed [not to have] a better fight with a better known opponent with a better style match-up, but like I’ve said all along, I’m so excited to fight, that I really don’t care.”

Cummings (10-0) certainly does not have the name recognition of Cyborg, but Kennedy sees Cummings as having a more complete set of skills than the Brazilian.

“It’s definitely my fight to lose. I’m going from a name that everyone knows to somebody that almost no one knows that I think is actually more dangerous of a fighter.”

“I think he’s a real balanced all-around MMA guy,” Kennedy explained, referring specifically to Cummings’ wrestling, dirty boxing, and heavy left hand. “So I think it makes for a good match-up and a good fight.”

Kennedy’s focus is on Cummings, but he already has other middleweights lined up in his crosshairs.

“There are a lot of 185 match-ups that I’d like to get my hands on, and by no means is the list short of opponents. I’d love to see Cung Le; I love that match-up.”

Another enticing match-up for Kennedy - perhaps one with less “love” - could help the Army Ranger settle an old score.

Two years ago, Jason “Mayhem” Miller won a decision over Kennedy, handing Kennedy his first loss since his pro debut in 2001. Even though Kennedy already holds a win over Mayhem, he has not quite in connection to gotten over his loss to the colorful veteran whose name has been tossed around in connection to a fight against Jake Shields for the Strikeforce Interim Middleweight Championship.

“While I’ll be rooting for Jake Shields because Jake Shields is my buddy, I would love if Jason had the belt and I could go in there and stomp him and put an exclamation to the fact that unless he cheats, he’ll never beat me.

“If he loses to Jake and he doesn’t have the belt, I’ll fight him anyways. I don’t care.”

“That last fight,” Kennedy explained, “I was destroying him for two rounds, and then at the end of the second round I got cut. From then on, I was spilling blood out of my eyes, and the last round and a half was really crap. I went from completely destroying him in the first fight, and now he has a decision win over me, which just blows my mind now.

“So I want to straighten that out. It’s not like I have a vendetta or don’t like the guy. I just want to make it clear that that was not a win.”

And what Kennedy ultimately hopes to make even clearer is his unwavering support of his country and his military brethren, both of which he embraces more than the sport in which he is adored by fans across America.

Kennedy speaks much more passionately about programs like Ranger Up, Soldier’s Angels, and Wounded Warrior than he does about capturing championship gold.

“All of my best friends are in Afghanistan or Iraq right now. Every one of them. The company that I was in was just deployed overseas. It’s literally like torture when I go every single day and look at updates. I have access to what’s going on, and I’m just praying that I don’t see one of their names on the Wounded or Casualty list. And every day I’m looking.

“I hope – and this is one of the things I’ve hoped for a long time – to be in a position to have a pulpit to stand on and have an audience that I can speak to and say, ‘Look, these are real heroes.’”