He was the perfect fighter to headline UFC Fight for the Troops 3 and it was a perfect ending for military veteran Tim Kennedy.
The rising middleweight contender connected on a leaping left hook that knocked out Rafael Natal with just 20 seconds remaining in the opening round of their main event bout Wednesday.
Over 4,000 troops at Fort Campbell in Kentucky erupted when Natal went down and the referee stepped in.
“I’m 100 per cent overwhelmed,” an emotional Kennedy said after the fight. “Your guys’ job is a thousand times, infinitely harder than anything I could ever do in here. I don’t deserve to be here. I love you guys so much. I miss everything about this. You guys are my heroes.”
Low blows steal spotlight during UFC prelims
The win was Kennedy’s third straight overall and second consecutive in the UFC. It was also his first knockout win since 2007 when he fought in the International Fight League and his first registered knockdown in his UFC/Strikeforce career.
Kennedy (17-4), who was originally scheduled to fight Lyoto Machida at this event, is slowly rising up the middleweight ranks. His only two losses in the last six years were competitive five-round decisions to former Strikeforce champions and current UFC contenders Ronaldo “Jacare” Souza and Luke Rockhold.
As for what’s next for the 34-year-old who joined the army in 2004, it’s anyone’s guess, but Kennedy doesn’t have any future opponents in mind.
“I’m not going to call anybody out right now. I’m going to wait until I get back to Twitter and Facebook. Then I’m going to fire relentlessly,” Kennedy said, tongue in cheek, at the post-fight press conference.
In the co-main event, Canadian Alexis Davis improved to 2-0 in the UFC with a unanimous decision win over former title challenger Liz Carmouche in the women’s bantamweight division.
Also on the main card, former Olympic wrestler Yoel Romero picked up his second straight win via brutal knockout after putting away Ronny Markes in the third round with a series of punches.
Plus, Rustam Khabilov moved to 17-1 with a unanimous decision victory over Jorge Masvidal in a bout that earned the fighters Fight of the Night, and Michael Chiesa submitted fellow TUF winner Colton Smith with a rear-naked choke.
The event helped raise money for the Intrepid Fallen Heroes Fund which helps veterans that have suffered traumatic brain injuries.
