Strikeforce Challengers Headliner Tim Kennedy Makes the Transition From Combat to Cage

Adam Morgan has an interview with Kennedy:

Tim Kennedy: Yes. Both in skill in technique and physically. Having been a full time soldier for the past six years, deployed in Afghanistan and Iraq and other places, the mixed martial arts game, certain aspects of it have evolved and I wasn’t part of that evolution. So I might be behind the curve on a lot of the stuff and I’m playing catch up. I think the learning curve is gonna be very steep and I’m getting up it fast, but truth be told, I’m behind it right now.

Heavy.com: What do you feel is the biggest evolution that you’ve kind of missed the boat on?

Tim Kennedy: I think the guys like Georges St. Pierre that are amazing athletes in the first place and have been able to train with the best in all of the different realms of mixed martial arts: boxing, kickboxing, jiujitsu, wrestling, and really take a certain skill set and perfect it. You can take guys like Anderson Silva and throw them in a professional boxing ring and he’s gonna do really, really well. Or a professional muay thai fight. Or you can send him to NAGA or Grappler’s Quest or Abu Dhabi and watch him crush people in jiujitsu. I know what I’m really good at and fortunately I’m able to use my experience to put that onto my opponents. Sure, there are still aspects of my game that need to be refined. You know, one of them has been my muay thai kickboxing.

I just spent some time up in Boston with Matt Phinney and Mark Della Grotte at Sityodtong just working on my finesse kickboxing. Working on elbows, knees, footwork, sweeps, you know, all that stuff that I’ve really been neglecting because I was just that powerhouse boxer, wrestler, Pit style kickboxer. I think I’m behind on some of the niche tricks of the trade that you’re able to integrate into an MMA fight.

He also talks about why he is with Strikeforce:

Heavy.com: Switching gears a little bit I know that a lot of people were vying for your services when you were a free agent including the UFC. What made you choose Strikeforce over any other organization?

Tim Kennedy: Strikeforcewas very accommodating with the fact that I’m still going to be part of the military, being able to continue to wear the uniform. My fight’s on the 25^th. The 26^thand 27^th I’m coming home, packing my bags, grabbing my uniform and flying to the Soldier of the Year competition to help the troops there. These are things that they’re very understanding of. They’re very flexible with recognizing that I still have responsibilities as a soldier to take care of those things.

It’s difficult. Imagine you being a promotion owner and you wanting me to fight for you. You would have a difficult time saying “Well, I actually don’t own you, I can’t tell you where to go because the military still owns you.” Certain promotion owners don’t want to give that away. As it is right now, Scott (Coker) is just being a very accommodating boss, very flexible, and very understanding of my obligations which are all over the place.

Strikeforce Challengers: Kennedy vs. Cummings coverage