A former UFC fighter and Army Green Beret, Tim Kennedy, was reportedly wounded in an ambush in the Democratic Republic of the Congo on September 17, an incident that resulted in the death of a former New Zealand special operations soldier and left another contractor injured. Details of the attack emerged in a New Zealand Herald report and were referenced by a former Delta Force operator during a podcast on Thursday. The incident has not been officially confirmed by authorities.

The attack involved three contractors who were targeted while conducting a security operation related to mining revenues, anti-smuggling efforts, and tax collection for the Congolese government. Former New Zealand Special Air Service soldier Justin Conaglen was killed, according to war correspondent Robert Young Pelton, who spoke with the Herald. Conaglen had taken leave without pay from the New Zealand military in March before formally leaving the service in August.

Kennedy, 47, who previously competed in the UFC and Strikeforce, was reportedly evacuated to the United States after the incident. Former Delta Force operator Brent Tucker described the event on his Tier1 Podcast as an ambush on a three-person contractor team, noting that the group had been shot multiple times and delayed evacuation for several hours. Neither the precise circumstances of the attack nor the full extent of Kennedy’s injuries have been independently verified.

Kennedy’s military background includes service in Army Special Forces, with deployments to Iraq and Afghanistan as a sniper. He was serving part-time in a Maryland National Guard special operations unit as of a July 2025 report by Military.com. In a 2010 interview with Stars and Stripes, Kennedy mentioned studying criminal justice and planning a career in law enforcement before deciding to enlist in the Army in January 2004 following the 9/11 attacks.

The incident remains under investigation, and no official statements have been released by U.S. or Congolese authorities regarding accountability or broader implications for contractor operations in the region.