LAS VEGAS – Prior to his comeback fight Saturday, UFC light heavyweight Tyson Pedro thought he’d been shouted out by The Rock. Yes, that Rock, Dwayne Johnson.

Earlier in the day, Johnson posted a message on Instagram with the hashtag #TeamTyson. But it wasn’t intended for Pedro. It was for heavyweight boxing champion Tyson Fury before he knocked out Dillian Whyte in their fight at Wembley Stadium.

“Honestly, when I saw the video of The Rock, when he gave a shoutout to Tyson Fury, I thought that was for me,” Pedro said. “But that’s all right. I’ll get it later.”

The Rock, after all, is always sharing inspirational messages on social media. And if The Rock knew what Pedro endured to get back in the cage, he just might reach out to Pedro in the wake of his first-round TKO win over Ike Villanueva at UFC Fight Night 205.

Pedro, who trains out of City Kickboxing in Sydney, hadn’t competed since a third-round TKO loss to “Shogun” Rua in December 2018. In that fight, Pedro injured his knee and what ensued was a nightmare – three surgeries in three years to repair it.

LAS VEGAS, NEVADA – APRIL 23: (L-R) Tyson Pedro of Australia kicks Ike Villanueva in a light heavyweight fight during the UFC Fight Night event at UFC APEX on April 23, 2022 in Las Vegas, Nevada. (Photo by Jeff Bottari/Zuffa LLC)

Understandably, Pedro (8-3 MMA, 4-3 UFC) said a “wave of emotions” hit him immediately after finishing Villanueva.

“It’s too much to put four years into one moment,” Pedro said.
I had to stop there and just take it in for a second.”

Pedro admitted that through the setbacks and through the long, arduous recovery process, he lost motivation at times. But he always kept the faith that he would fight again.

“There was a lot of times when I was like, ‘F*ck this,’” Pedro said. “It was just like a drive, I guess. Since a kid, training is what’s always kept me going. Obviously my family, my wife, my daughter, that has a big part of it. I just knew I was gonna be back here. I just had to keep working.”

To hear more about Pedro’s road back to the UFC, watch his full post-fight scrum in the video above.