Tim Kennedy is a US Army Special Forces soldier, or Green Beret, and a retired mixed martial artist who fought in the UFC and Strikeforce while serving. He founded the self-defence and tactical training company Sheepdog Response, hosted the Discovery Channel series Hard to Kill, a name he also uses for his brand, and wrote the memoir Scars and Stripes.
Brian Rose has interviewed Kennedy twice on London Real, in 2020 and 2023. They have talked about fear, Special Forces training, combat in Afghanistan, PTSD, his fighting career, free speech and big tech censorship, the right to bear arms, the war in Ukraine and his views on schooling.
Both interviews are listed below in order with a short summary.
Hard To Kill: How To Fight For Freedom & Not Become A Slave To The System (June 2020). Nearly two hours on fear, Special Forces training, combat, PTSD and his fighting career, and the best place to start for his own story. For his views on free speech and society, watch Big Tech Censorship Is Jeopardising Our Freedom of Speech & Making Society Weaker (2023).
Kennedy built Sheepdog Response around the idea that people do not get to choose when violence happens. He argues ordinary civilians should learn situational awareness, firearms and hand-to-hand skills so they can protect the people they love.
In his 2020 interview he talked about overcoming fear, from Special Forces training to a three-day gunfight in Afghanistan, and about how his lifestyle helps him deal with trauma and PTSD.
Speaking in 2023, Kennedy said prosperity had made people comfortable, unprepared and untrained, and warned that desperation can quickly turn into chaos. He argues people have given up freedoms in exchange for convenience.
In both interviews he argued for free speech and against cancel culture. In 2023 he said big tech censorship was setting a dangerous precedent and that people need to fight for the right to speak openly.
Kennedy says parents are best placed to decide how their children are educated. He described opening the private school Apogee Cedar Park in Texas and the mentoring programmes for young men and fathers that grew from it.
Tim Kennedy is a US Army Special Forces soldier and retired mixed martial artist from San Luis Obispo, California. He fought in the UFC and Strikeforce while serving, founded the training company Sheepdog Response and hosted the Discovery Channel series Hard to Kill.
Across two interviews with Brian Rose, in 2020 and 2023, he talked about fear, Special Forces training, combat in Afghanistan, PTSD, his fighting career, free speech and big tech censorship, gun rights, the war in Ukraine and schooling.
Start with Hard To Kill from June 2020 for his life story, military career and fighting. Then watch the 2023 interview for his views on free speech, censorship and society.
Twice: in June 2020 and April 2023.
Yes. He fought professionally from 2001 to 2016 and finished with a record of 18 wins and 6 losses. His wins include Robbie Lawler in Strikeforce, and Roger Gracie and Michael Bisping in the UFC.
Sheepdog Response is the tactical training and self-defence company Kennedy founded. It teaches civilians situational awareness, firearms and hand-to-hand skills so they can protect themselves and their families.
Hard to Kill is the Discovery Channel series Kennedy hosted, in which he tried out some of the world’s most dangerous jobs. He also uses the name for his own brand, and it is in the title of his 2020 London Real interview.
Scars and Stripes, published in 2022 and written with Nick Palmisciano, is Kennedy’s memoir of his life in the military and in mixed martial arts. Its subtitle describes it as an unapologetically American story.
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