Green Beret quits Army to fight full-time - Military News | News From Afghanistan, Iraq And Around The World - Military Times

Green Beret quits Army to fight full-time

Staff Sgt. Tim Kennedy, a Special Forces soldier who has turned down invitations to fight in top mixed-martial-arts circuits in order to deploy, planned to make the Army his career.

But he struggled to balance his love for his job in the Army with a desire to fight professionally.

Kennedy’s bosses at Special Operations Command wouldn’t let him fight in professional, civilian MMA tournaments. He tried to become a part of Special Operations recruiting efforts. He asked Army National Guard recruiting officials whether they would allow him to represent the Guard in a sport that is popular with young men.

Each time, the answer was no.

With his two passions tugging at him and time running out on careers built for men in their prime, Kennedy chose MMA.

His terminal leave began July 10; his six-year enlistment ends Aug. 4.

“I’m disappointed and bummed out,” Kennedy said about leaving the Army. “It’s not what I wanted, but I feel like I did everything … I could have done to make this work.”

Kennedy, a combat vet who was assigned to the 7th Special Forces Group at Fort Bragg, N.C., is not the only soldier heavily involved in combatives or MMA. But, by all accounts, he is among the best and toughest MMA fighters in the Army.

Soldiers who train for the MMA ring have sometimes struggled for acceptance in certain parts of the Army as they participate in a sport that is perceived as brutal, almost-no-holds-barred fighting.

But MMA has moved into the mainstream, largely because of the popularity of the Ultimate Fighting Championship, the world's leading mixed-martial-arts association. The UFC is so popular that its pay-per-view events outsold boxing and wrestling in 2006.

Soldiers who fight professionally in civilian tournaments can be a powerful tool in recruiting the 18- to 24-year-old men who are obsessed with MMA.

Before joining the Army, Kennedy trained with MMA legend Chuck Liddell. Now under a three-fight contract with Strikeforce, Kennedy beat Nick Thompson, a fighter currently ranked 10th in the world in his weight class by MMAWeekly.com, on June 19. The fight aired on Showtime, and it was Kennedy’s first professional MMA fight in 18 months.

Kennedy is preparing for his second Strikeforce fight, on Sept. 25. He also will appear in an EA Sports MMA video game as “Tim Kennedy, Army fighter,” and he plans to stay involved in nonprofit organizations that advocate and care for wounded warriors.

“Opportunity only knocks for a short portion of your life, and my time is now,” Kennedy said.