The next big thing…

At AFC 16, Tyson Pedro entered the Melbourne Pavilion as a relative unknown; but after a few devastating minutes he well and truly made his mark and in turn established himself as the ‘Next Big Thing’ in the AFC!

To say Tyson’s AFC debut was stunning is a definite understatement, and the Light Heavyweight standout was pretty happy with his performance:

“Thanks. Yeah, I was hoping to stand and throw my hands a bit more, though I hurt my knee pretty badly 2 weeks out so I didn’t get in as much sparring as I would of liked. The takedowns just came naturally when I felt he was over extending. So I just rolled with it”

Tyson is still relatively new to the sport, something AFC fans may be quite surprised with based on his performance back in June. In a sport that requires such diversity to be successful, Tyson’s ground ’n’ pound may just be the key to his success in the future:

“I’ve been training in martial arts a lot longer then my record would have you believe. Injuries and work have slowed down competition. [In relation to his ground ’n’ pound] Not at all, I’m comfortable wherever the fight goes, this is just the first time I’ve had the opportunity to use g’n’p”

Lions High Performance Centre continues to establish itself as one of the best gyms in the Country; and working with some genuine killers everyday, the skilled training partners are having a significant impact on Tyson’s development as a martial artist:

“It’s been awesome to be back in Sydney! I was in Queensland for 3 years at integrated MMA where I developed more of a wrestling for MMA game. Now I’m at LHPC with some heavy hitters [and I’m] keen to put western Sydney on the map”

Former UFC fighter James Te Huna recently took to social media to share with the world Tyson’s talents and future prospects. Safe to say it’s a massive boost to Tyson’s confidence to have such a great fighter backing him all the way:

“For sure, what an honor it was to wake up see that and to find Facebook says my pages activity is up by 355,000% haha. I have a lot of respect for James, I’ve been training with him for years and have had a lot of opportunities because of that. It didn’t change much except the fact that it makes me want to push to meet those expectations he’s laid out and he has shown that that dream is an achievable one”

So with his AFC debut now in the books, Tyson is well and truly on the Light Heavyweight Radar. So here’s a message for AFC Light Heavyweights:

“I hope everyone’s training hard. I’ll be having a bit of a break due to family commitments and I’m coming back with bad intentions”

So, bad intentions it is! Only question that remains is who’s next…?

Article by Josh Warner AFC