Jon Tuck feels he shines the most as an underdog and in enemy territory. Those will both be true when he travels to Lincoln, NE to take on Drew Dober at UFC Fight Night 135 on August 25.
Dober was born and raised in Omaha, NE, so he’s sure to be the hometown favorite. 87 percent of 258 Tapology members are siding with Dober as well as of August 7, so Tuck projects to be a heavy underdog in the lightweight contest.
“I think it’s a great fight, going into somebody else’s hometown and putting on a show for the fans,” Tuck told MMASucka. “I’m just looking to put on a show and come home with the finish. I know I’m the underdog heading into every fight.”
Dober’s momentum may have something to do with the pick numbers. He’s won four of his last five with wins over Frank Camacho (at welterweight), Josh Burkman, Jason Gonzalez and Scott Holtzman. That’s fine with Tuck, who will be looking to steal that momentum for himself with a finish. He feels it’d be the biggest win of his career.
“Every win is going to be your biggest win,” Tuck said. “Just like every fighter coming off a loss is only good as their last fight. [Dober’s] a young, hungry fighter and he’s got a 4-1 streak so he’s definitely a good name to add to the list.”
Tuck feels a win over Dober should solidify where he’s at in the lightweight division. A win would put him on his first winning streak in the UFC. He hopes he could then build off that until he gets a shot at the top-10, and eventually the title. Tuck said it’ll all be in steps, but is ready to start with his first official two-fight win-streak since 2011.
“It’s definitely motivation,” Tuck said. “I should be on a 4-fight winning streak.”
Tuck’s citing a pair of split decision losses to Josh Emmett and Damien Brown sandwiched between submission wins over Takanori Gomi and Tae Hyun Bang.
“Anywhere you go, I’ll always be an underdog fighting in someone else’s hometown but that gives me motivation to finish the fight,” Tuck said of not leaving it to the judges.
He didn’t leave it to the judges against Gomi, submitting the Japanese legend in the first round of their June 2017 fight. Tuck said the win is special to him because he’d been watching Gomi compete for Pride FC since before he started training.
“When YouTube was still in its infancy, I was looking up any ways and forms to learn fighting,” Tuck said. “I would watch his moves and highlights to learn some things that Takanori Gomi did. Fighting him has always been my dream. I came into the sport with the desire to be one of the best fighters ever. As a martial artist, you want to fight legends of the sport. I want to fight every legend there is. Even if they seem like they’re on their way out, sharing the Octagon is an honor. It’s like going in there against Muhammad Ali. You would want that. That’s something you could take with you and live the rest of your life with.”
He said he’d like to compete against the likes of Jim Miller, Ross Pearson and Anthony Pettis.
Tuck’s last three victories have all been finishes. The “Super Saiyan” predicts he’ll add another one of those in the first or second round against Dober.
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