Tim Kennedy Reportedly Wounded in Deadly Congo Ambush

Former UFC fighter and U.S. Army Green Beret Tim Kennedy was reportedly wounded in an ambush in the Democratic Republic of the Congo on Sept. 17, an attack that killed former New Zealand Special Air Service soldier Justin Conaglen and injured another member of their three-person team, according to reports published Oct. 9. Kennedy was subsequently evacuated to the United States for medical treatment, but the circumstances of the attack remain unconfirmed.

Reports from Stars and Stripes, Sherdog and Geo.tv cited accounts indicating that Kennedy sustained multiple gunshot wounds, including three shots to the leg. MMA Weekly reported that his condition was stable following his evacuation. The reported injuries, evacuation timeline and precise circumstances of the incident have not been independently verified.

The New Zealand Herald reported that war correspondent Robert Young Pelton identified Conaglen as the fatality. Conaglen, a former lance corporal, took leave without pay from the New Zealand military in March and left the service in August, according to the newspaper.

Pelton also described the team's reported mission as an effort to protect mining revenues, combat smuggling and collect taxes for the Congolese government. However, the identities of the team's partners and the events that triggered the ambush have not been established publicly.

Former Delta Force operator Brent Tucker discussed the incident on his Tier1 Podcast, providing another account of Kennedy's reported involvement in the operation.

“He was doing contracting work,” Tucker said of Kennedy. “He was in a three-man element. There will be more information of this, but as of right now, we will call it an ambush.”

Tucker said the contractors were shot multiple times and waited hours for evacuation. MMA Weekly reported that the evacuation took nearly eight hours, while other accounts described the team as coming under fire before Kennedy was transported to the United States.

Although some reports have suggested possible connections between the operation and a private security company associated with Blackwater founder Erik Prince, those claims remain unconfirmed. Speculation about a possible confrontation with Russia's Africa Corps has also circulated, but no independently verified account has established that such a confrontation occurred.

Kennedy, 47, competed professionally in mixed martial arts from 2001 to 2016, fighting in the UFC and Strikeforce. He also served in U.S. Army Special Forces, including deployments to Iraq and Afghanistan as a sniper, according to previous reports about his military career.

In a June 2010 interview with Stars and Stripes, Kennedy said he had initially studied criminal justice and considered joining the FBI while pursuing professional fighting. Following the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks, he decided to pursue Army Special Forces and enlisted in January 2004.

A July 2025 report by Military.com said Kennedy was serving part-time in a Maryland National Guard special operations detachment. Kennedy had not immediately responded to an email requesting comment Thursday night, according to Stars and Stripes. No official confirmation of the Congo attack or a detailed account of his injuries was included in the reports published Oct. 9.