Tim Kennedy: ‘TRT is legal steroids. If you need TRT you should not be fighting’

Nov 6, 2013; Fort Campbell, KY, USA; Tim Kennedy (red gloves) fights Rafael Natal (blue gloves) in the middleweight bout during UFC Fight for the Troops at Fort Campbell. Mandatory Credit: Joshua Lindsey-USA TODAY Sports

Last week the UFC held two free events on Fox Sports 1. The first of the two events was the third installment of UFC Fight for the Troops 3. The card delivered some incredible action, drama, and excitement throughout the night. The card was topped off by an incredible first round KO victory for the former Army Ranger, Tim Kennedy, in front his army brethren. I wrote a perspective article about how special that moment was in UFC history. I had the chance to sit down with Tim recently to talk about his victory last Wednesday night, his quad injury, Vitor Belfort and TRT, Lyoto Machida, Michael Bisping, Chael Sonnen, Donald Cerrone and much more.

His thoughts after defeating Rafael Natal in front of his Army brethren

Man my leg hurts, that was stupid! But, everything considered, I was happy with my performance. I was having some serious mobility problems with my leg. He kicked me and I nearly fell over. I could barely walk out of the cage afterwards. With all that in mind, I am happy that I knocked him out in the first round. I also wanted to demonstrate a lot of the things that I have been working on, but I couldn’t.

His disappointment that a big ‘name’ opponent did not step up in lieu of Lyoto Machida

Ya I was really disappointed. Not only for me, but for the troops because they deserve a really good fight. But, I wasn’t surprised. It wasn’t like Bisping was going to say “oh ya, I will fight Tim on his home turf”.

His thoughts on Lyoto Machida

He is a super talented fighter and I thought he posed a lot of problems for me as a fighter. He is kind of like a puzzle. He is a tricky guy. I was looking forward to fighting him, and I would definitely still be interested in fighting him.

When he expects to be back inside the Octagon 

I am in physical therapy every single day right now, so I think I will be ready before the UFC is ready to put me in another fight. I fought 3 times in 2013. I fought in January at the last StrikeForce show, then I fought Roger in July at UFC 162, and finally in November. I am totally happy with three fights a year. I think for me, four would be pushing it.

Is Michael Bisping who you want to fight next?

Absolutely. It will be short like my last fight, so I hope people won’t have to pay for it because they are going to get 2 or 3 minutes of me smashing him. I wouldn’t even say Bisping is arguing back. Maybe as far as a preschooler argues I guess. He is not very good is what I am saying. I am hoping he will up his game so we can have some fun banter.

Vitor Belfort 

Vitor is always dominating. He is very talented and very good, but every time that I say that, I put an asterisk next to his name because it’s not him. Sammy Sosa and Mark McGwire broke records, but there are asterisks next to their names too. They were really really good baseball players, and they hit baseballs really really hard out of parks, but they were cheating. Anything they did doesn’t matter. So even though Vitor is so talented and so gifted, it is irrelevant because it is cheating. It wouldn’t be fair for him to be licensed in the US for a title fight if he is on testosterone. He has failed tests for anabolic steroids. The reason he has low testosterone is because he used anabolic steroids in the past, period. You can talk to any single doctor on the planet, and that is what they will say. Athletic commissions won’t license him because he got caught cheating. He should not be allowed testosterone because he was cheating; it is as simple as that.

Should TRT be legal?

TRT is legal steroids. If you need TRT you should not be fighting. I am 34 and I have been a professional athlete for 13 years. Along with that, I have been blown up in combat and jumped out of helicopters. If anybody has an excuse to use testosterone it’s me, but that is not going to happen. It has never even crossed my mind. TRT not only affects physical performance, but also how the person is able to train in fight camp. I would love to have that much testosterone going through me during fight camp, taper down right towards the end and fight at an almost normal level. My recovery in fight camp would be easier. Instead of needing 2,3 or 4 hours of rest between each training session I can just eat, drink, and go back and work out again. That would be fun; I would like that.

Why he speaks out against TRT

It is important to the sport to talk about the TRT issue. It is important to me, because I have been in this sport for so long. It is damning to the sport. Steroids almost killed baseball and steroids can definitely kill MMA. It’s not Vitor himself that bothers me. I actually happen to like the guy. He is one of my favorite fighters. The problem is TRT and it has to go.

His new twitter persona and how Chael Sonnen started it all

Chael Sonnen is a genius. He is really good, so I don’t want to take anything away from him. Although he is a god at talking crap, he is also a very very good fighter. With that being said, he has talked his way into three title fights. That is badass. I aspire to be Chael Sonnen on twitter. We don’t have the same voice though, which is good. I have a different sounding voice on twitter. I try to be a bit more clever and cheeky. I am a little more self-deprecating as well. He is just brutal.

His favorite current and all time MMA fighter

All time favorite fighter is a tie between Fedor and Chuck Liddell. Currently, my favorite fighter is Cowboy Cerrone. I am going to complain about that little s**t right now. He has limitless talent, and bottomless potential. If he trained like I trained for one fight or for one year, he would be the world champion. That is how good he is. He walks into training cold, sometimes drunk, coming off the lake, and he destroys guys. I don’t understand it. I am carb-loading the night before, waking up and hydrating, drinking some crazy drink with all these nutrients, and he walks in with a beer in his hand and says “it’s time to f***ing spar, that’s cool.” He has such raw talent it kills me.

His favorite career moment

Walking out to the cage to ‘Rooster’ with the soldiers chanting ‘Ranger Up’.