Tim Kennedy hasn’t fought since his controversial 3rd round TKO loss to Yoel Romero at UFC 178 back in 2014, however at the end of last year Kennedy announced that he would be returning to the Octagon, and gunning for PED users and TRT abusers.

While Kennedy was initially lobbying for a fight with Vitor Belfort, the UFC decided to book Belfort vs. Jacare in what many assume to be a #1 contender fight.

In the mean time, the UFC offered Kennedy a fight with Lyoto Machida in March, however as he revealed to Submission Radio he will be getting deployed in March.

Fox Sports has the transcription:

“They offered me Lyoto Machida at the end of March, but I’m going to be deployed for the military and it’s for the U.S. Army, and they’re really hard to say ‘no’ to. Like, by hard, I mean they’ll put me in prison if I say ‘no.’ Yeah. So, I couldn’t fight at the end of March. I asked for a different date. “

So when Kennedy is through with his deployment, who does Kennedy want to fight?

“So Anderson [Silva] coming off a win and that would be a perfect fight for a kind of title eliminator for me. I’m not saying the UFC would give me a title fight after beating – I’d be what, 4-1? With the one loss being a super controversial loss to a nasty-ass cheater. So maybe? So the Anderson fight would really put me in the position for title contendership, you know. I would be in the mix, if not the contender, which is one of the reasons I’m lobbying so heavily for it.”

Ultimately however, Kennedy just wants to fight upon his return from deployment.

“As soon as I get back from this deployment, I would love to fight whoever they want.”