Former UFC fighter Tim Kennedy has decided to re-enlist in the Army Special Forces following the military’s decision to drop the “mother of all bombs,” the largest non-nuclear explosive in the U.S. arsenal, on an Islamic State stronghold in Afghanistan last week.
In an interview with Fox News’ “Fox and Friends” over the weekend, Kennedy said the military dropping the MOAB proved that the U.S. “got our teeth back” under President Donald Trump.
“We dropped the biggest bomb — 11 tons of TNT, essentially, goes into destroying everything within a mile radius,” he said.
Afghan officials believe the blast, which targeted Islamic State tunnels in the Achin district of the Nangarhar province last Thursday, killed nearly 100 ISIS fighters.
Kennedy told TMZ Monday that, while he’s enjoyed his career as a UFC fighter, the military is his true passion.
“God put me on the planet for this reason,” Kennedy said. “I’m decent at [UFC fighting]. I’m really, really good [in the Army]. And there’s nothing like doing what you love to do when you have the support and excitement and encouragement of your seniors.”
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Kennedy, 37, went on to say that Trump being commander in chief “absolutely” played a role in his decision to re-enlist in the Green Berets.
The fighter joined the Army in 2004 and, after several tours overseas, transitioned from active duty to the Texas Army National Guard. He said he was waiting until November 2016 to decide if he would re-enlist but wasn’t fully on board until Trump appointed Secretary of Defense James Mattis and national security adviser H.R. McMaster, who replaced Lt. Gen. Michael Flynn.
“When Donald Trump starts putting guys like Gen. Mattis and Gen. McMaster in my chain of command," Kennedy explained, “dude, let me tell you how good my life is about to get!
“It’s a stark contrast,” he continued. “You know, it’s like, you drop some chemical weapons on some kids and women, we’re gonna shoot 60 tomahawk missiles at your face.”
Kennedy was referring to Trump’s decision earlier this month to launch more than 50 tomahawk missiles at a Syrian airbase following the country’s chemical attack on its own people that killed dozens, including at least 28 children.
The U.S. believes Syrian President Bashar al-Assad was behind the attack. Assad, however, has suggested the chemical attack was fabricated, and Russia has defended the Assad regime.
Kennedy said he does not agree with all of Trump’s politics but said he is confident the president “likes to win.” However, based on his comments, it is Mattis and McMaster who really get him excited about re-enlisting.
“Those guys are brilliant strategists,” Kennedy said. “They are the leaders that we haven’t had in 70 years. They’re men that will lead from the front — they’ll be the first guy up the last guy to bed, the first guy into battle, the last guy to leave.”
“They’ll be the ones hanging out with soldiers that are hurt and they’ll be the ones that will sacrifice everything they are as a person to make sure their men can do their job,” he continued. “So, man, I’m pumped to work for these guys.”
And he told Fox he is ready to set his sights on ISIS because they’re “a bunch of cowards.”
“They’re a bunch of pathetic humans that have no similarities to any of the things we value or love, like human life, and they prey on the weak, they prey on the helpless, whereas we’re the protector of those [values],” he said. “I don’t understand how they even exist, how they’re the same species.”
When all is said and done, Kennedy told the Fox hosts that the military has been “reinvigorated” under the Trump administration.
Would he feel the same way under a President Hillary Clinton? Not so much.
In fact, he told TMZ, “We probably wouldn’t be having this conversation had the election gone a different way.”
