Kennedy to fight for the title
May 11th, 2012 | Army Combatives Mixed martial arts | Posted by Michelle Tan
It’s official – Army Staff Sgt. Tim Kennedy will step back into the mixed-martial arts ring for another shot at the Strikeforce middleweight title.
Kennedy will fight reigning champ Luke Rockhold July 14 in Portland, Ore.
Kennedy, a decorated Special Forces soldier who is now serving in the Texas Army National Guard, has a 14-3 record. During his last fight, in July, Kennedy defeated Robbie Lawler by unanimous decision.
Rockhold holds a 9-1 record, and according to MMAjunkie.com, he is looking for his second successful title defense since narrowly winning the belt from Ronaldo “Jacare” Souza and then defending it with a January knockout of Keith Jardine.
Kennedy fought for the vacant Strikeforce title in August 2010, according to MMAjunkie.com, but suffered a unanimous-decision loss to Souza. Since then, Kennedy returned to title contention with a submission victory against Melvin Manhoef and his most recent win against Lawler.
On his Facebook page, Kennedy wrote: “At last, I will be fighting Luke Rockhold July 14 in Portland. Super excited!”
The fights will air July 14 on Showtime.
Until then, check out the Kennedy-Lawler fight from last summer:
Combatives first
August 12th, 2011 | Army Combatives Mixed martial arts | Posted by Michelle Tan
She’s a captain in the 101st Airborne Division‘s 2nd Brigade Combat Team. She is also the Screaming Eagles’ newest bantamweight combatives champ.
Capt. Michelle LaForest submitted her opponent on Wednesday during the Week of the Eagles Combatives Tournament, making her the first woman to win in her weight class at a post-level tournament.
Credit: Fort Campbell Courier
Nearly 90 soldiers competed in the combatives tournament here at the Sabre Army Heliport hangar Fort Campbell, Ky., according to the Fort Campbell Courier. As the soldiers progressed through the various rounds, only 32 remained to fight in the finals, which allows striking and is not much different from a mixed martial arts fight you’d catch on TV.
The Fort Campbell Courier dubbed LaForest’s fight the tournament’s Cinderella story, drawing loud, boisterous cheers when she submitted her opponent with an arm bar.
“As a female, I feel like we’re representing,” LaForest told the Courier. “I’m really happy because a female won.”
LaForest, who belongs to the 526th Brigade Support Battalion, is no stranger to Army combatives. She placed second in the flyweight division during the 2009 Week of the Eagles combatives tournament.
Soldier from 2nd BCT won the overall team title with 215 points, followed by 1st BCT and then 3rd BCT, according to the Courier.
Kennedy vs. Lawler
July 29th, 2011 | After Action Army Combatives Mixed martial arts | Posted by Michelle Tan
Tune in to Showtime tomorrow night to watch Staff Sgt. Tim Kennedy take on Robbie Lawler in his latest Strikeforce mixed-martial arts battle.
Kennedy, a Special Forces soldier who now serves in the Texas Army National Guard, has a 13-3 record. He will fight Lawler, who has a record of 19-7-1. The men, who both fight at 185 pounds, will step into the ring at the Sears Centre Arena in Chicago.
The last time we saw Kennedy was when he submitted Melvin Manhoef with a rear naked choke in the first round of their March fight.
Headlining Saturday’s main card are Fedor Emelianenko vs. Dan Henderson.
The fights are live on Showtime at 10 p.m. EST.
To whet your appetite, check out the Kennedy-Manhoef fight again:
Tim Kennedy gets new opponent for next Strikeforce fight
January 31st, 2011 | Army Mixed martial arts | Posted by Michelle Tan
When Staff Sgt. Tim Kennedy steps into the Strikeforce cage March 5 in Columbus, Ohio, he won’t be facing Jason “Mayhem” Miller in a highly anticipated rubber match.
Instead, Kennedy, a Special Forces soldier who now serves in the Texas Army National Guard, will fight Luke Rockhold, a 26-year-old from San Jose, Calif., who has a 7-1 record.
Kennedy’s record is 12-3 and the mixed-martial arts fight will be his fifth with Strikeforce and his first since August, when he and Ronaldo Souza went five rounds for the Strikeforce middleweight championship. Souza won by unanimous decision.
When Army Times talked to Kennedy in early January, he said he welcomed a chance to fight Miller again. The fighters had split their two previous meetings.
“I think that’s a fight a lot of people would want to see,” Kennedy said at the time.
Rockhold has won his last six fights, all in the first round. He was scheduled to fight last October but withdrew after injuring a shoulder in training.
The news about Kennedy’s new opponent came as Strikeforce announced on Monday the lineup for the March 5 event at Nationwide Arena in Columbus. The main card will feature a title fight between Dan Henderson, who has won four MMA world championships, and Strikeforce World Light Heavyweight Champion Rafael Cavalcante.
Also fighting that evening are Marloes Coenen and Miesha Tate, Kennedy and Rockhold, and Billy Evangelista and Jorge Masvidal.
The event will air live on Showtime at 10 p.m. EST.
Date, but not opponent, set for Tim Kennedy’s next Strikeforce fight
January 7th, 2011 | Army Mixed martial arts | Posted by Michelle Tan
Army Staff Sgt. Tim Kennedy is ready to step back into the MMA ring.
Kennedy confirmed to Army Times today that he’s been asked to fight in the March 5 Strikeforce event in Ohio.
What’s anyone’s guess, though, is who he’ll fight.
When asked who he’d like to fight, Kennedy was quick to name names -– Melvin Manhoef, Jason Miller, Matt Lindland, Robbie Lawler, Ronaldo Souza.
“Pretty much anybody at 185,” Kennedy said, adding that a rubber match with Miller would guarantee a good fight.
“I think that’s a fight a lot of people would want to see,” he said.
Kennedy’s last Strikeforce fight was in August, when he and Souza went five rounds for the middleweight championship. Souza won by unanimous decision.
Looking ahead to March, Kennedy is in full training mode and he’s preparing to travel to Albuquerque, N.M., to train with renowned MMA trainer Greg Jackson and his team. Jackson’s is also where former Marine Brian Stann, who stunned Chris Leben at UFC 125 on Jan. 1, trains.
“I’m at a level where I need really, really talented, really, really good guys [to train with],” Kennedy said.
If he gets his rematch with Miller –- they’ve fought twice, each fighter winning one of the fights –- Kennedy said he must be ready to go all out for three rounds.
“Both the fights with Jason were knock out, drag out fights,” Kennedy said. “He’s a tough guy. I need to make sure I can go at a very high pace for three rounds. I really want to be able to take advantage of the positions I know I can beat him at and wear him out and hopefully knock him out.”
If you’re not too familiar with Kennedy, you can check out his 2007 fight with Miller below, which Kennedy lost by a unanimous decision. The loss is one of only three in Kennedy’s pro career.
Tim Kennedy to fight for the Strikeforce middleweight title
July 10th, 2010 | Army Mixed martial arts | Posted by Michelle Tan
This is the shot he’s been working for – on Aug. 21, Staff Sgt. Tim Kennedy will fight for the Strikeforce 185-pound title.
Mixed martial arts websites mmaweekly.com and www.sherdog.com are reporting that Kennedy, a Special Forces soldier with 19th Special Forces Group, will face Ronaldo “Jacare” Souza at the Toyota Center in Houston, Texas.
The title fight comes just nine weeks after Kennedy’s last fight – and win – against Trevor Prangley.
Kennedy submitted Prangley, a 37-year-old middleweight fighter, during the first round of their June 16 face-off in the Nokia Theater in Los Angeles, improving his MMA record to 12-2.
Souza, 29, is a two-time Brazilian jiu jitsu world champion and has an 11-2-1 MMA record.
While you wait for the big title bout, check out the Kennedy-Prangley fight:
Details of Tim Kennedy’s next fight announced
May 27th, 2010 | Army Mixed martial arts | Posted by Michelle Tan
Tim Kennedy's last Srikeforce fight was in September 2009. (Colin Kelly/Staff)
June 16 will be a big day for Staff Sgt. Tim Kennedy.
After months of training and anticipation, Kennedy will step into the ring for his third mixed-martial arts fight for Strikeforce. He will face Trevor Prangley, a 37-year-old middleweight fighter with a 21-5 record, in the Nokia Theater in Los Angeles.
And the fight will coincide with the release of the new EA Sports MMA video game featuring Kennedy and a slew of other MMA fighters.
Kennedy, who fights at 185 pounds and has a record of 11-2, said he is looking forward to facing Prangley.
“He’s one of those guys no one’s going to walk through, no matter who you are,” Kennedy said. “He’s always going to be a tough fight.”
Prangley is a class act, Kennedy said.
“I respect him. I’m excited to fight a good, quality opponent and I’m excited I get to fight,” he said. “It’s going to be a brawl. It’s going to be a good fight. He’s not one to quit, he’s not one to tap, he’s a hard one to knock out. I’m going to have to bring the fight to him.”
During the fight, Kennedy, a Special Forces soldier assigned to the Texas Army National Guard’s C Company, 5th Battalion, 19th Special Forces Group, will wear shorts bearing the Guard’s logo.
Until then, Kennedy is training hard — three workouts a day four times a week and two workouts a day twice a week, with Sundays off.
He averages about six hours a day in training and spends most of his time at the Competitive Training Center in Austin, Texas, where he lives. He also trains with Phil Cardella at the Relson Gracie Jiu-Jitsu Austin Association.
His last Strikeforce fight was in September, when he beat the previously undefeated Zak Cummings by a second-round submission.
Kennedy, who originally signed a three-fight contract with Strikeforce, will be sticking around for awhile. He recently signed a new contract with Strikeforce, although he said he could not discuss any details.
“I will be with Strikeforce for a few fights,” was all he would say. “I want that title, so I’ll be there at least three or four fights.”
Despite his heavy training schedule, Kennedy continues to play an active role in the Guard.
“In between every one of my workouts I’m doing Army stuff, whether it’s replying to e-mails with questions from recruiters about Special Forces or guys from the company asking about different types of training stuff, or I’m at Camp Mabry [in Austin], Camp Bullis [in San Antonio] or Camp Swift [in Bastrop County east of Austin] doing stuff,” he said.
Guardsman is a champion bodybuilder
April 8th, 2010 | Army | Posted by Michelle Tan
Staff Sgt. Diane Singh
Staff Sgt. Diane Singh added another bodybuilding award to her collection April 3 by winning her category at the National Physique Committee’s Last Frontier State Fitness, Figure and Bodybuilding Championships in Anchorage, Alaska.
The Alaska Army National Guard soldier will next compete in the Emerald Cup April 16 in Seattle, the sixth largest bodybuilding competition in the world and the largest in the United States. There she will face more than 200 females in the figure category, which focuses more on muscle tone and symmetry instead of the muscle building itself.
When she’s not sculpting her muscles, Singh is a non-commissioned officer in the Alaska Guard’s Drug Demand Reduction Program, which helps educate the public on the hazards of illegal drugs and alcohol.
Singh trained for a year for the Last Frontier competition.
Only in Alaska
February 19th, 2010 | Army | Posted by Michelle Tan
It’s 34 degrees in Big Lake, Alaska, today – practically balmy; perfect weather for a snowmobile race.
The 2010 Alaska National Guard Iron Dog kicked off today, and two Alaska Army National Guard soldiers are among the competitors.
The event, which runs through Feb. 27, is touted as the the world’s longest and toughest snowmobile race. Warrant Officer Rick Fleming and Staff Sgt. Elaine Jackson will represent the Guard in the trail class portion of the race, from Big Lake to Nome.
“Our goal is to be the first trail class team to reach Nome and for Jackson to be the first woman to reach Nome since 2001,” Fleming said.
10 years of football
January 6th, 2010 | Army Football | Posted by Michelle Tan
The nation’s top high school football players will go head-to-head this Saturday, Jan. 9, for the 10th annual U.S. Army All-American Bowl in San Antonio, Texas.
But not before a healthy dose of Army Strong, hooah activities.
The All-American Bowl, touted as the preeminent launching pad for America’s future college and NFL stars, will feature more than 90 top high school football players in an East vs. West match-up. Former All-American Bowl players include stars such as Reggie Bush, Vince Young, Tim Tebow and Terrelle Pryor.
This Saturday’s game also will showcase more than 95 elite high school marching band musicians who will play during halftime.