Kennedy Thrilled Over Bin Laden’s Death, But Wanted to Help

Tim Kennedy (file photo) expressed closure. | Photo: Dave Mandel/Sherdog.com

On Sunday night, though, he was wishing he’d been involved in the mission that killed Osama bin Laden in Pakistan.

“I’ve been to Pakistan. I’ve been to Afghanistan. I’ve been to Iraq. All of which was actively looking for that guy,” Kennedy said Monday during a “Savage Dog Show” interview on the Sherdog Radio Network. “So there was a little sense of disappointment that I wasn’t part of it, but I made a choice to be fighting right now. I’m just totally excited and thrilled to see a really dark, sad chapter of our country’s history -- it’s not coming to a close, but that’s definitely a chapter that’s pending. There’s still a lot of battles to be won and a lot of work to be done, but it was thrilling being up all night reading stuff as it was developing.”

Thrilling but also painful.

“It was torture,” Kennedy said. “If I was going to design a version of hell for me, that would be it. Where I’m sitting there reading about special operations going in to do a hit on a HVT, on a high-value target, and just having to not be there. It’s absolutely excruciating. Anybody that’s been there and done that, when you’re reading about it happening and not being there, especially when things go wrong, that’s the worst.”

Just about everything appears to have gone right on this particular mission, however. Kennedy chalks that up to preparation.

“For an operator, it’s almost like you’ve done it 1,000 times,” he said. “The repetition is why you’re good at it. You have checked every battery in every piece of equipment you have. You’ve popped every one of your magazines. You as an operator are totally ready to go.”

Such discipline translates to MMA too. Kennedy explained that the military is “very, very successful” when it comes to training you on how to achieve an objective.

“When I’m walking up toward the cage, I know I’ve trained harder, I know I’ve trained smarter and I know I’ve trained better than the guy that’s going in there to fight me,” he said. “I think usually they know it too.”

Bin Laden’s death has not changed Kennedy’s plans for MMA. He still has work to do in the cage, but once it’s done, he will resume his duty as a Green Beret.

“We should be announcing my fight here in the next couple of weeks,” Kennedy said. “I am already moving into my fight camp. I’m working out two, three times a day right now. I’m bringing guys in to train with me. I’m going to be fighting for the next two to three years and then I’m going to go finish my career as a Green Beret.”

Listen to the full interview (beginning at 57:38).