Since his last MMA fight in December of 2016, former UFC middleweight Tim Kennedy has spent his time on a myriad of projects, including working in television.
After wrapping up the third and final season of Hunting Hitler for the History Channel, Kennedy has embarked on a new series; one that could potentially get him killed.
In the upcoming Discovery Channel series Hard to Kill, Kennedy attempts some of the most dangerous jobs in the world. From avalanche technician to test pilot, Kennedy and his crew see just how much punishment a former MMA fighter and Special Forces sniper can take doing jobs that make civilized life much easier for the rest of us.
MMAWeekly.com: Firstly, Tim, tell us how Hard to Kill came about.
Tim Kennedy: We tried to imagine a show that we could do that could show an inside look that normal people can’t see or imagine. This was one of two ideas we had: to go and do the most deadly jobs in the world, jobs that I do and have done, and give people an opportunity to see what these courageous men and women do every day.
MMAWeekly.com: How did you go about picking the jobs you attempted to do during filming, and were there any jobs you didn’t want to do?
Tim Kennedy: This isn’t a stunt show or Fear Factor or Steve-O and Jackass, these jobs are something that somebody gets up every single morning does. The fact that I do it isn’t courageous. What is courageous is that somebody has been doing these things for 17, 18, 20, 30 years.
For the job selection, we only had three requirements: one – it has be essential to the American way of life and contributes to this life that Americans have; two – it has to be inherently dangerous to the point that the people who do these jobs frequently get hurt or die; and lastly – we had to have source material when something goes bad and what someone can do to survive. That’s how we built episodes.
No, I never said no to a single thing they asked me to. No, I never said no to a single job. We still have plenty of jobs we plan on doing.
MMAWeekly.com: On your previous series, Hunting Hitler, you were part of a team. What is it like with Hard to Kill now having the entire show centered on you?
Tim Kennedy: It’s nerve wrecking because it’s all on your shoulders. Special Forces ODA is awesome; you’ve got a 12-man team and you’re indestructible because together you’re so strong. But then you become a sniper and it’s just you and one other guy. It’s that same kind of feeling.
Going from a show (in Hunting Hitler) that was a huge success where there were other guys who had to deal with the responsibility and stress of the filming life and the schedule and travel – it’s easy. This, where every day you wake up and it’s all on you, is scary. I have to crash this plane. I have to crash this helicopter. I’m getting buried alive in an avalanche. Or I’m getting hit by this bull. It’s not “we” or “us”; it’s about what the hell am “I” going to do here.
MMAWeekly.com: Did you have to do anything different in your training routine to specifically get ready to do a show like this?
Tim Kennedy: I was talking to a strength and conditioning coach and a dietitian, and we’re looking at it trying to figure out how to make me harder to kill. That sounds cliché, but seriously, we started talking about durability and flexibility. We added some more percentage of body fat. We really sat down and looked at what we could to do to make response times shorter, and if I get hit how could the damage not be as bad.
This article first appeared at News – MMAWeekly.com
