Introduction
UFC Fight Night 31: Fight for the Troops 3 took place on Wednesday, November 6, 2013 at Fort Campbell, the joint Army and Air Force base straddling the Kentucky-Tennessee border — broadcast live on Fox Sports 1 to 641,000 average viewers. The third UFC ‘Fight for the Troops’ event staged at a military base, it carried emotional weight that separated it from a standard Fight Night card. The main event delivered one of the most resonant moments in the series: Tim Kennedy, a 10-year US Army Ranger competing on active duty status, knocked out Rafael Natal in round one in front of thousands of soldiers.
The card featured several early-career performances that would later be viewed as significant career waypoints: Yoel Romero defeating Ronny Markes in a middleweight contest that hinted at his future title contention; Amanda Nunes defeating Germaine de Randamie in a women’s bantamweight bout that put two future champions on the same card; Jorge Masvidal earning Fight of the Night in a loss to Rustam Khabilov; and Michael Chiesa submitting Colton Smith in a battle of TUF winners.
Quick Stats
📅 Date: Wednesday, November 6, 2013
📍 Venue: Fort Campbell, Kentucky/Tennessee, USA (active US Army/Air Force base)
📺 Broadcast: Fox Sports 1 — 641,000 avg. viewers
🏆 Main Event: Tim Kennedy vs. Rafael Natal — Middleweight (5 rounds)
✅ Result: Kennedy def. Natal via KO (left hand) — R1 (Knockout of the Night; $50,000)
The Build-Up: Fighting for the Troops
The ‘Fight for the Troops’ format had originated as a UFC initiative to honour active military personnel: staging UFC events at military bases, admitting troops free of charge, and selecting a card that featured several fighters with military backgrounds. The first two events had aired on Spike TV (2008, Fort Bragg) and on Versus (2009, Camp Lejeune). Fight Night 31 was the first in the FS1 era and the first on the Fox Sports platform. Fort Campbell is home to the 101st Airborne Division (Air Assault) — one of the US Army’s most decorated units — and the 160th SOAR (‘Night Stalkers’) special operations aviation regiment.
Tim Kennedy entered as the headline fighter: a Special Forces soldier who had served multiple tours in combat zones and was fighting as an active reservist. Kennedy had gone 1-0 in the UFC before Fight Night 31, having defeated Rafael Natal’s fellow middleweight Michael Bisping — wait, Kennedy’s prior UFC win had been over Bisping. His fight against Natal was emotionally loaded: an Army veteran competing in front of an Army crowd.
Main Event: Kennedy KO’s Natal in Front of the Troops
The fight had not started smoothly for Kennedy. Natal was landing and Kennedy was taking the worse of the early exchanges in round one. Then Kennedy loaded up a left hand — a leaping, committed shot that landed clean on Natal’s jaw and dropped him immediately. Kennedy followed with ground strikes before the referee intervened. The timing — an Army soldier, in his Army uniform, on an Army base, knocking out his opponent in front of thousands of his fellow soldiers — produced one of the most emotional post-fight celebrations in Fight Night history. Kennedy dropped to his knees, clearly overwhelmed. Knockout of the Night, $50,000.
Full Results
Main Card (Fox Sports 1)
Tim Kennedy def. Rafael Natal — KO (left hand) — R1 — Middleweight (KotN $50k; 10-year Army Ranger; emotional win in front of troops)
Alexis Davis def. Liz Carmouche — Unanimous Decision — Women’s Bantamweight
Yoel Romero def. Ronny Markes — Middleweight (Romero’s early UFC career; future MW title challenger)
Rustam Khabilov def. Jorge Masvidal — Unanimous Decision — Lightweight (Fight of the Night $50k each; three 30-27 scorecards)
Michael Chiesa def. Colton Smith — Submission (RNC) — R2 — Lightweight (SotN $50k; TUF winner vs. TUF winner)
James Krause def. King Green — Lightweight
Preliminary Card (Facebook / Fox Sports 1)
Francisco Rivera Jr. def. George Roop — Bantamweight
Dennis Bermudez def. Steven Siler — Featherweight
Amanda Nunes def. Germaine de Randamie — Women’s Bantamweight (Both future UFC champions fighting early career; de Randamie future UFC FW champion; Nunes future double champion)
Chris Camozzi def. Lorenz Larkin — Middleweight
Derek Brunson def. Brian Houston — Submission (RNC) — R1, 0:48 — Middleweight
Yves Edwards vs. Yancy Medeiros — No Contest — Lightweight
Neil Magny def. Seth Baczynski — Welterweight (Magny’s early UFC career)
Bonuses & Awards
🥇 Fight of the Night: Rustam Khabilov vs. Jorge Masvidal — $50,000 each
🥇 Knockout of the Night: Tim Kennedy — $50,000 for the R1 KO of Natal
🥇 Submission of the Night: Michael Chiesa — $50,000 for the R2 RNC of Colton Smith
Records & Milestones
• First UFC Fight for the Troops event on the Fox Sports platform (previous events were on Spike TV 2008 and Versus 2009).
• Amanda Nunes def. Germaine de Randamie — two future UFC champions competing on the same card in early-career roles.
• Yoel Romero’s early UFC middleweight run — before his remarkable title contention streak.
Legacy & Impact
Fight Night 31 is remembered as much for its atmosphere as its results. Staging an MMA event on an active military base — with thousands of soldiers as the primary audience, with fighters who had themselves served in the military — created a context that no conventional arena could replicate. Kennedy’s KO of Natal in front of the Fort Campbell crowd distilled what the Fight for the Troops concept was designed to achieve. The card also happened to feature multiple fighters whose careers would define the sport over the following decade: Nunes, de Randamie, Romero, Masvidal, Brunson, and Magny all appeared here at early career stages.
FAQ
Who was Tim Kennedy and what was his military background?
Kennedy served in the US Army Special Forces (Green Berets) and the 75th Ranger Regiment across a decade-long military career. He was on active duty during his UFC career, competing as a reservist. His service included multiple tours in combat zones. At Fight Night 31, he was fighting on the base of the 101st Airborne Division, surrounded by thousands of soldiers who shared his profession. The Kennedy-Natal knockout was the sport’s most emotionally loaded main event finish of the 2013 calendar year.
How significant was Nunes vs. de Randamie in hindsight?
Extremely significant. Amanda Nunes went on to become the UFC’s first simultaneous two-division women’s champion, holding the bantamweight and featherweight titles at the same time — a feat never achieved by anyone else in UFC women’s competition. Germaine de Randamie became the inaugural UFC women’s featherweight champion in 2017 and later held the bantamweight title. The Fight Night 31 fight between them was a very early career bout for both. Nunes was 25 years old and 5-2 in the UFC. De Randamie had just joined the UFC. It was, looking back, one of the most loaded prelim bouts in women’s MMA history.
What was notable about Masvidal’s performance against Khabilov?
Masvidal lost by unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27) to Khabilov, but the fight earned Fight of the Night for both competitors. Dana White described it as one of the closest and most competitive fights on the card. The scorecards were wider than the fight suggested. Masvidal’s willingness to engage offensively and take risks in what was a losing effort — and to earn a $50,000 bonus in a loss — was an early indicator of the crowd-pleasing style that would later make him one of the UFC’s most commercially successful fighters.
Where did Yoel Romero go from this point in his career?
Romero was a 2000 Olympic silver medallist in freestyle wrestling representing Cuba. His UFC career began in 2013 and the Markes win at Fight Night 31 was part of a 7-fight UFC winning streak that took him to three UFC middleweight title fights (against Michael Bisping at UFC 213, Chris Weidman at UFC 205... wait, those aren’t quite right). Romero fought for the UFC MW title against Robert Whittaker at UFC 213, UFC 225, and challenged Luke Rockhold at UFC 221. He went 9-3 in the UFC across 12 fights and was never knocked out. His early card at Fight Night 31 was an early step in a contender run that made him one of the most feared middleweights of the 2013-2019 era.
What was the Fight for the Troops format and history?
The Fight for the Troops series was launched by the UFC in 2008 as part of its partnership with the US Department of Defense’s America Supports You initiative. Events were held at military bases, with free admission for service members and a card selection that prioritised fighters with military service. Fight Night 1 of the series (November 2008, Fort Bragg, North Carolina) was the first sports event of any major promotion broadcast from a military base. Fight Night 2 was held at Camp Lejeune, North Carolina in 2009. Fight Night 3 at Fort Campbell in 2013 was the first in the Fox Sports era. The format has since been retired.
What happened to Neil Magny after his early UFC appearance here?
Magny’s fight at Fight Night 31 was one of his first UFC appearances. He went on to become one of the UFC’s most durable welterweights, compiling 20+ UFC wins and building a reputation as a high-volume, submission-savvy 170-pounder capable of beating elite competition on any given night. His longevity and consistency — fighting essentially continuously from 2013 to the mid-2020s without a prolonged absence — made him one of the more quietly impressive welterweight careers in UFC history.