Former UFC fighter and U.S. Army Green Beret Tim Kennedy has reportedly been caught in a deadly incident in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), sustaining multiple gunshot wounds alongside members of his three-man team.

Multiple military sources online, along with MMA Weekly, reported that the ambush likely took place on September 17, when Kennedy and his team came under heavy fire in the conflict-hit Central African country. The decorated Army sniper and Special Forces operator reportedly sustained three gunshot wounds to his leg. He subsequently underwent a grueling eight-hour evacuation before being medevaced to the United States, where he is said to be in stable condition at the moment.

Though Kennedy survived the attack, the ambush is said to have claimed the life of former New Zealand Special Air Service (SAS) operator Justin Conaglen, while another unnamed member of the group was reportedly wounded but survived.

Justin Conaglen’s death in the ambush has since drawn attention in New Zealand. The New Zealand Herald confirmed that the former New Zealand Defence Force (NZDF) serviceman had died in Africa just weeks after leaving the military.

He had reportedly been on unpaid leave since March before formally departing the NZDF in August and was believed to have moved into private security work.

A regional outlet in the DRC, Kivu Today, also reported that Conaglen was killed during combat in North Kivu. His body has since been returned to New Zealand for burial.

While the precise reason Kennedy and his team were in the Central African country has not been established, several reports have linked the group to a private military contracting operation associated with Erik Prince, the founder of Blackwater. Prince has reportedly held mining and security agreements with the Congolese government.

Other reports have suggested that the former UFC fighter’s team may have inadvertently clashed with Russia’s Africa Corps, the force that succeeded the Wagner Group’s operations on the continent. However, those claims have not been officially verified by military authorities.

Kennedy and his representatives have yet to publicly address the reported shooting. The lack of a statement could be due to the strict operational security and non-disclosure boundaries common with private military contracting.

This leaves the circumstances surrounding the incident, including the team’s mission and the events that led to the ambush, unclear.

The reported operation comes amid a wider foreign military presence in the DRC.

Kivu Today also reported on the Congolese government’s previous use of foreign military contractors to support its fight against AFC/M23 rebels.

According to the outlet, the government brought in around 300 Romanian private military contractors, many of them former French Foreign Legion personnel, to train Congolese government troops and help defend Goma against the rebel forces.

The contractors eventually found themselves involved in combat alongside the Armed Forces of the Democratic Republic of the Congo. In January 2025, around 300 Romanian contractors reportedly surrendered to or were captured by M23 forces after fighting alongside Congolese troops.

They were subsequently escorted through the Grande Barrière border crossing into Rwanda, taken to Kigali International Airport, and flown back to Romania.

That history could provide context for the presence of foreign security personnel in the region, although it does not establish whether Tim Kennedy’s team was involved in a similar operation or if they were part of a private security assignment for an American corporation.

For now, the reported shooting adds another dangerous chapter to Kennedy’s already eventful career. Between his time as a U.S. Army Green Beret and his run as a UFC fighter, the 47-year-old has spent years operating and competing in some of the world’s toughest environments.

Tim Kennedy built an 18-6 MMA career while serving as a Green Beret

The popular military influencer’s MMA journey dates back to 2001, when he began fighting professionally while also building what would become a serious military career. He eventually put together an 18-6 record, working his way through the regional scene while serving in the U.S. Army.

In 2004, Kennedy enlisted through the Army’s 18X Special Forces program. He went through basic training, Airborne School, Ranger School, and the Special Forces Qualification Course before earning his Green Beret in 2005.

That was only the beginning. As a Special Forces sniper and combatives instructor with the 7th Special Forces Group, Kennedy went on multiple combat deployments in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom and Operation Enduring Freedom, serving in both Iraq and Afghanistan.

In 2009, Kennedy moved from active-duty service to the Texas Army National Guard, allowing him to chase a career in professional MMA without completely stepping away from the military. The 47-year-old soon became one of Strikeforce’s top middleweights, even getting two shots at the promotion’s title.

Kennedy came up short in competitive five-round decisions against Ronaldo Souza and Luke Rockhold, but those losses did little to knock him out of the division’s elite.

Then came the UFC move. When Strikeforce was absorbed by the UFC in 2013, Tim Kennedy made the jump with it and wasted no time making an impression.

He beat Roger Gracie in his promotional debut in July 2016 at UFC 162, followed it up with a knockout of Rafael Natal that earned him a Performance of the Night bonus, and then put on a dominant five-round performance against future UFC champion Michael Bisping in a 2014 Fight Night main event.

However, the 47-year-old’s march toward the UFC middleweight title came crashing down at UFC 178 when he faced Yoel Romero.

Tim Kennedy came dangerously close to finishing Romero late in the second round, but what happened next became one of the most infamous moments of the fight.

Romero’s corner delayed the start of the third round by nearly 40 seconds, giving the exhausted fighter extra time to recover. The bizarre delay became known as “Stoolgate,” and ‘Soldier of God’ came out for the third round looking refreshed before eventually stopping Kennedy by TKO.

Following the fight, the Green Beret stepped away from MMA for two years, turning his attention back to his military career and media work. He eventually returned for one final fight at UFC 206 in December 2016, where Kelvin Gastelum stopped him by third-round TKO. Kennedy retired from active MMA competition afterward.

In 2017, Tim Kennedy made another public return to the U.S. Army Special Forces, re-enlisting and continuing his military career. He has since served part-time as a master sergeant with the Special Operations Detachment-O in the Maryland National Guard.

That combination of a high-level MMA career and Special Forces service has made the 47-year-old a pretty unusual figure in both worlds. He went from fighting some of the toughest names in MMA to continuing his work in military and security circles.

And now, the reported Congo incident has once again put that background under the spotlight.

Still, there are plenty of unanswered questions. Exactly what the former UFC middleweight was doing in the region, who he was working with, and what led to the reported shooting all remain unclear as more details continue to emerge.