“A lot of the fans today probably don’t even know who I am,” reflects Pedro. “But I love seeing how the sport has taken off. I love seeing Tai up there, Volk with the title and all of the New Zealand boys killing it. That pumps me up.”
Pedro and Tuivasa are very close, and over the past four years have started some businesses, including launching their own beer label and opening an Italian restaurant in Western Sydney. When asked who’s the bigger troublemaker when they’re out on the town, Pedro laughs.
“When Tai and I are together, it’s like a cyclone. But I’m having a rest with the partying. I had four years off, which was plenty of time for that sort of thing. All I want to do now is catch up – I want to fight, get paid and then jump straight back in there and fight again.”
Asked how he feels the 205-pound landscape has changed since 2018, Pedro says, “There are really only a few names that I recognize. One thing I have noticed, though, is that the level of BJJ has improved. Fighters are also starting to market themselves better.”
Speaking of improvements, the Aussie has been training with a host of top coaches for his latest fight camp, even though it’s meant travelling great distances.
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“It’s been a long camp. I started it 14 weeks ago, in Dubai with Tai. But my fight got pushed back and his was brought forward. So then I returned to Australia and did two weeks in Wollongong at Freestyle Fighting Gym. Luckily, Eugene [Bareman], Carlos [Ulberg] and the boys from City Kickboxing were there at the time. After that, I finished up at the CMBT Training Centre on the Gold Coast.”
