Tyson Pedro says he would have cut off his leg and fought 'Jacare' if it helped him make his UFC debut

MELBOURNE, Australia – At first glance, it might seem Tyson Pedro isn’t ready for the UFC. He’s just 25, only has four professional fights to his name and hasn’t competed against anyone who has even flirted with the level of competition largely seen inside the octagon.

Dig a little deeper, though, and Pedro (4-0 MMA, 0-0 UFC) could be joining the organization’s light-heavyweight division right on time. At least that’s how he feels going into his promotional debut against Khalil Rountree (4-1 MMA, 0-1 UFC) at Saturday’s UFC Fight Night 101 event, which takes place Saturday (Sunday in Australia) at Rod Laver Arena in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. The card airs on FS1 following early prelims on UFC Fight Pass.

“I knew that I was going to be here,” Pedro told MMAjunkie. “It was just a matter of time. For me, I believe in myself. The timing was a bit different (because it was a short notice fight) and that was the only thing that threw me off, but I knew I wanted to be here.

“I’ve been doing this for 17 years now. I’m 25 and for all these people telling me, ‘You’re going to be in the UFC.’ Now I’m here and now I have to show them why they believed me, and that’s what I’m so excited about.”

Pedro has only four professional fights, but those contests are spread across several years dating back to September 2013. And when he has competed, he’s made it look like easy work, finishing all of his respective opponents by submission or knockout inside the first round.

Moreover, Pedro won’t go into his first UFC fight blind. He’s been in the corner of teammate and multi-time UFC veteran James Te Huna when he’s competed in the octagon, meaning Pedro previously caught a glimpse of what the experience is like fighting on the world’s grandest platform for MMA. Because of that, he expects the dreaded “octagon jitters” to bear no impact on his performance.

“When you walk out that first time, you get the shakes and a bit of an adrenaline rush seeing the crowd and hearing them scream,” Pedro said. “I think experiencing that for the first time is going to make a big difference, especially since I’ve done it twice now (while cornering teammates). The third time, now it’s my turn and I’m going to enjoy it.”

Regardless of his experience level, Pedro said he knows he belongs in the UFC, which he why he accepted the fight with Rountree on short notice. He downplayed how the lack of preparation could impact him on fight night but said there’s no way he was going to decline the opportunity.

“I didn’t get told who my opponent was,” Pedro said. I would have chopped my leg off to fight (Ronaldo) ‘Jacare’ Souza (at middleweight) if I needed to. It didn’t matter who it was. They could have offered the top guys, you can’t say no. When you dream of it your whole life, now to be here, you can’t say no.”

The opponent Pedro did get, however, is Rountree, a runner-up on Season 23 of “The Ultimate Fighter.” Rountree has a like record to Pedro with a similar amount of experience, so the matchup is about as good as it gets for a UFC debut. Pedro admits he doesn’t know much about his opponent, but with the fight taking place on the Australian’s home turf, he doesn’t foresee himself being beat.

“I want to finish him in the first round,” Pedro said. “I like finishes. I don’t like going longer, I don’t like decisions. I don’t like leaving in the hands of the judges, and I want to end it in the first round.”

For more on UFC Fight Night 101, check out the UFC Rumors section of the site.