Tim Kennedy, the former UFC and Strikeforce middleweight and Army Green Beret, is being treated at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center in Maryland after being shot three times in the leg during a September 17 ambush in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Reuters reported.
The attack happened nearly a month ago. It didn’t surface publicly until this past week, with the New Zealand Herald among the first outlets on it, and the details have been dribbling out since.
Kennedy, 47, was working under contract for Vectus Global, the private security firm run by Blackwater founder Erik Prince. Journalist Robert Young Pelton described the outfit as a “Tax Brigade” focused on “protecting mining revenues, combating smuggling and improving tax collection for the Congolese government.” MMA Fighting, citing reports, said Vectus Global signed a five-year deal worth $300 million to $400 million to secure mining operations in the country.
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The toll was brutal. Congo’s government said the attack left 20 people dead or wounded. At least seven Congolese were killed, according to Reuters, along with Lance Corporal Justin Conaglen, a former New Zealand SAS soldier who was part of the same foreign contractor element as Kennedy. A third contractor, still unnamed, was also wounded.
Reuters also reported that Rwandan forces backing the M23 rebels may have launched a surprise attack after tracking a surveillance drone to the team’s location. Reuters framed that as a possibility, so treat it that way until someone confirms it.
Kennedy was medevaced to the U.S. afterward. MMA Weekly reported he’s working on recovering from the ambush both physically and mentally. Vectus Global hasn’t commented publicly.
The fighter
Kennedy went 18-6 in MMA and fought for the Strikeforce middleweight title twice, coming up short both times. His fighting career wrapped in 2016, and MMA Fighting lists his retirement in 2017. After hanging up the gloves he went into television, hosting Hunting Hitler on History and Hard to Kill on Discovery.
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The military side never really went away. He served in Iraq and Afghanistan, and MMA Weekly reported he re-enlisted after leaving MMA because he wasn’t satisfied slowing down. Cageside Press reported he’d recently been serving part-time with the Maryland National Guard in Special Operations Detachment-O, a unit that coordinates with NATO special operations forces.
That record has had its rough patch. In 2025, Kennedy took heat after appearing to claim he’d been awarded a Bronze Star with Valor. He did receive a Bronze Star for his service, though without the Valor device, and he issued a public apology in July 2025.
Plenty of retired fighters say they can’t sit still. Kennedy, at 47, went to the Congo with a contractor crew and came home with three gunshot wounds in his leg, while the New Zealander working alongside him didn’t come home at all. Good that Kennedy is in Walter Reed and recovering. I’d still like to hear from Vectus Global, which has had since September 17 to say something about the man it lost and so far hasn’t said a word.
