Former GLORY Kickboxing tournament victor, Tyrone Spong has revealed this week that talks had previously been held regarding a potential move to the UFC — before he elected to explore other options in both boxing and professional kickboxing.
Spong, a former tournament winner with GLORY Kickboxing, had also captured WBC and WBO Latino heavyweight world championships in boxing. And was even scheduled to fight former undisputed world champion, Oleksandr Usyk back in 2019.
Returning to combat later this summer, Spong, who has featured thrice in professional mixed martial arts, will take on Octagon alum, Sam Alvey at a Karate Combat event in Dubai this weekend.
Tyrone Spong details prior talks for UFC move
However, during an interview with MMA Fighting this week, it could’ve proved a much different career for Spong some years ago — who revealed positive talks with UFC CEO, Dana White regarding a potential mooted Octagon move.
At that time, I had a good contact and meetings with the UFC, with Dana White,” Tyrone Spong told MMA Fighting. “I love what Dana’s doing. I think by far he’s the best promoter in combat sports. But at that time I was the man in town. I had so many options, which is a blessing and a curse at the same time because it makes you indecisive.”
“I was fighting MMA, boxing, kickboxing, all together,” Tyrone Spong explained. “I think if you want to go into the UFC, you have to solely focus on that. One, because the level of competition. And two, I didn’t want that at that time because I had these other great options, goals and achievements. And when you sign there, you’re stuck on that contract. At that time, the money and being stuck there was not worth it for me. But like I said, if it makes dollars, it makes sense, and the challenge is right, why not?”
Sidelined from mixed martial arts since 2022, Spong most recently featured one an Eagle FC card in Miami, suffering a knockout loss to Russian veteran, Sergei Kharitonov.
