Tyson Pedro had two words running through his mind as he stared at the canvas of a western Sydney gym: “My teeth”.
There they were. Two of them. Knocked out by his father, John. But he couldn’t walk away. The round wasn’t over.
“Try that shit now, homie,” Pedro joked to his father when recalling the sparring incident that once left him with a gap in his grin.
Pedro knew he just had to survive. Same deal when his old man accidentally stabbed him in a trick gone wrong.
Tough? Sure. But it made the 30-year-old UFC light heavyweight who he is today.
Which is why Pedro (8-3) is back in the octagon to face Harry Hunsucker (7-5) at UFC 278 in Salt Lake City on Sunday (AEST), continuing one of the sport’s most remarkable comeback stories after spending almost four years sidelined by ongoing knee injuries.
Tyson Pedro will make his return to the octagon on Sunday (AEST).Credit:Zuffa
“It’s like anything, when you’re in it, you’re not really thinking about ‘why me, why this’, you’re just surviving,” Pedro said. “Lesson learnt on both sides.
“It’s that adversity, right? You can always go two ways: you end up going downhill, or you go uphill. I was just trying to do my best every day. It made me the person I am. I’m here because of that.
“He’s [his father] sitting right here laying on my bed. It’s all meant to be. I need someone for a good laugh every now and then. Look at him, he’s on the bed with a whole chocolate block while I’m cutting weight.
“We’re here, we’re better people now. All of those hardships are what made us who we are now. He’s a granddad now, there’s a softer side coming out in him. He’s a different person.”
So is Pedro, who will open the main card of a show headlined by Kamaru Usman’s defence of his UFC welterweight title against Leon Edwards.
Pedro has found a way to harness his savage nature. For that, he can thank one-year-old daughter Giselle.
She is the reason Pedro wants to get through Hunsucker and then back up at Madison Square Garden on November 13 (AEST) on a card led by middleweight king Israel Adesanya’s highly anticipated showdown with Alex Pereira.
After that, he wants to be ready to go for the UFC’s return to Australia in the first third of 2023, because, “Christmas is coming, and daddy’s been away for a little bit, so she wants new toys”.
“I still love fighting, but I’ve put a time limit on my fighting now because I don’t want to be a punch-drunk dad,” Pedro said. “I want to get in, get what I want to accomplish in MMA done, and then be a stay-at-home dad.
“Being able to turn on the savageness is what the difference is. I’m able to be that happy-go-lucky guy, but I can turn it on and off.
“I don’t like this Hunsucker guy; he’s kept me away from my family for three months. I really don’t like him. He might be a nice guy, but f— him.”
