When most people receive a photo of a severed head with a threat from an international terrorist group, they would probably take it easy, lay low for a while. But then again, most people are not Tim Kennedy, mixed martial arts fighter and Green Beret.
We caught up with Kennedy at SHOT Show 2016 in the Gerber Gear booth where he talked about his love of knives, drawing the ire of ISIS and how he wants to lay Anderson Silva on the mat covered in his own blood.
Kennedy has been making news lately for receiving a cyber threat from someone claiming to be representing ISIS with a picture of a severed head. When Kennedy wasn’t fazed by the threat, continuing his public insults about the Muslim extremists, he got a call from the FBI.
“[The FBI] thought a normal person would be uncomfortable with somebody sending them pictures of a beheaded human whereas I’m like, ‘you’re trying to be an online bully to me? Stop,'” Kennedy said. “I’ll come to Syria and find you. I don’t care.”
Clearly, the threats are not having an effect on a man who’s been to the Middle East nearly 25 times and is ranked number five in the world as an MMA fighter.
“They [ISIS] are impotent babies who don’t even know how to fight unless it’s against an unarmed journalist or a woman in Germany who they think is dressed inappropriately who they decide to rape,” Kennedy said. “I have no respect for them or fear. They’re welcome to come to wherever I am.”
Kennedy, who doesn’t mince words, was speaking from the Gerber Gear booth where he showed up the Tactical Tomahawk, which can caught through metal.
I love knives. I hunt Nazis, kill poachers, go around the world fighting terrorists,” Kennedy said. “You pretty much can’t find me without a knife in my hand.”
When it comes to upcoming competition, the middle-weight contender has Anderson Silva in his sights. If Anderson wins his next fight against Vitor Belfort, both of whom Kennedy calls cheats, the Austin, Texas resident just might get his shot.
“I would really, really like to beat the breaks off of Anderson,” he said. “I would put him on the ground and cover him in his own blood in minutes.”
Video credit: James Armstrong and Peter Acosta
