The UFC star Tyson Pedro is on a roll after he returned to Octagon action last year after an ACL tear sidelined him for almost 3 years. After toiling hard, the Australian fighter experienced an upturn in his fortunes and is on a tw0-win streak ahead of his UFC 284 bout against Modestas Bukauskas. However, the light heavyweight fighter credits his success to only one man, his father, John Pedro. Credited with bringing MMA to Australia, John Pedro embraced fighting early in his life due to his arduous life, and a small influence of it can be seen when he named his son after Mike Tyson.
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Appearing on the recent episode of UFC Connected, the MMA pioneer revealed his hardships while growing up. Additionally, he went down memory lane as he narrated the moment when he named his son.
Tyson Pedro reminded his father of Mike Tyson
Tyson Pedro‘s father, who also owned the King of the Cage, stated that he came to Australia along with the 31-year-old fighter’s mother. There, he got blessed with a son, who took the name after his idol, Mike Tyson.
Recalling the emotional moment, he said, “He came out; he had the same scar on his head there Mike Tyson had. I was already a massive fan of Mike Tyson and when I looked at him and he came out with a frown, and he had his hands like that. I went Tyson.”
According to the City Kickboxing team product, his father is a character who lived many lives. Further, the fighter believed his father was a hard man because of his childhood.
Similarly, earlier in the conversation, the MMA exponent recalled his hardships before coming to Australia.
John Pedro admitted to becoming someone he didn’t want to
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John Pedro disclosed he grew up in a gang culture. Further, he admitted, “I’m not going to justify or make anything sound pretty, but I did what I had to do. Those days in the gang, you had to fight. My whole background is fighting and being the best martial artist I could.”
“Done six black belts. I was fighting all my life and so I became something I didn’t want to be. But I survived,” he added later on.
Following this, the Australian held, “I wanted to take Tyson’s mother out of that area. We come to Australia and thought we’ll give it a go.”
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What do you think of this interesting story behind Tyson Pedro’s name? What do you think of the bond Tyson Pedro shares with his father? Let us know in the comments below.