Anderson Silva has reached out publicly to Tim Kennedy, the former UFC middleweight who was shot several times during an ambush in the Democratic Republic of the Congo last month.
Silva posted the message on Instagram Saturday night alongside a photo of Kennedy. It opened simply: “Hey brother, I heard about the terrible news.” He followed with “Strength to you and your family. We’re all praying that you get well. God bless.”
The attack happened on September 17. Kennedy was working as a private military contractor for The Vectus Group, a private military company owned by Erik Prince, according to Bloody Elbow. The story went wide on October 10 when Reuters ran an exclusive saying Prince’s forces had taken a battlefield loss in Congo and that a former UFC fighter was among the wounded. Reuters credited unnamed sources for that report.
Bloody Elbow reported that 20 people were injured or killed in the incident. Kennedy was reportedly shot in the leg multiple times and is receiving treatment at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center in Washington, D.C.
What Silva laid out
Silva’s post went further than a quick get-well note. He described Kennedy as a former Green Beret and wrote that he was hit several times, mainly in the leg, while on a private security contract. Silva wrote that Kennedy survived both his wounds and an evacuation that ran roughly eight hours before he was flown to the United States for care.
He also wrote that former New Zealand SAS soldier Justin Conaglen was killed in the same attack, and that a third member of the crew was wounded.
Silva closed with this: “Prayers for Tim Kennedy, for Justin Conaglen’s family, and everyone involved in this case.”
Silva, the former UFC middleweight champion, has been out of the cage and is currently training to become a police officer in Los Angeles, per Bloody Elbow. Kennedy also competed at middleweight in the UFC before his contracting work took him to Congo.
No update on Kennedy’s recovery timeline or long-term prognosis has been made public in the reporting so far. The Vectus Group and Prince have not been quoted in the available coverage, and the wider details of the ambush, from who carried it out to what the operation actually was, have come only through the Reuters report and its unnamed sources.
Quick take
The detail that stuck with me is Silva using his post to name Justin Conaglen. Most celebrity well-wishes stop at the famous guy in the hospital bed. Silva made sure the man who didn’t come home got a line too, and that’s the right instinct from a guy who has spent his post-fight life learning what it means to wear a badge. Kennedy is at Walter Reed with a leg full of holes and an eight-hour evacuation behind him. Next real news here is his first word from that bed, and I’d bet it’s blunt.
