Tyrone Spong on Picking Eagle FC for His MMA Return: ‘I Like to Challenge Myself’

It’s been a while since fans saw Tyrone Spong in a mixed martial arts contest, but the “King of the Ring” is ready for his return in the upcoming Eagle FC 44 headliner. His last MMA fight dates back to August 2013, when he upended Angel DeAnda via unanimous decision in the WSOF 4 headliner. Spong (2-0 MMA, 0-0 Eagle FC) has switched across multiple combat sports over the years. After retiring from kickboxing following a nasty leg injury suffered in his second clash with Gokhan Saki, Spong looked for new challenges in boxing where he piled up 14 wins, 13 of which came by stoppage. Now, it’s time for him to dust off the 4-ounce gloves as he takes on Sergei Kharitonov on Jan. 28.

“He had been waiting for a fight contract for a while,” Spong told Sherdog. “[Manager] Ali [Abdelaziz] would have had been working on something. This opportunity came about, and they asked me, ‘Hey, would you take this MMA fight?’ I said yes right away. The reason is I like to challenge myself at all times. I like to compete. I still pursue boxing, and I’m sure there are going to be some more good opportunities that will come about this year. The landscape of combat sports, in general, is changing rapidly. You see different promotions arising and putting on entertaining events with some decent fights, good fights. That was the main thing. I still wanna box, but this came about and I think it’s a good fight for me. It’s a challenge, I’m fighting a very experienced guy, a big guy. Let’s accept this challenge and see how it goes.”

In addition to sharing his thoughts on Eagle FC’s decision to add a new weight class, Spong also discussed the comeback of his longtime friend and teammate, former UFC light heavyweight champ Rashad Evans at Eagle FC 44, and more.

Timestamps:

(00:00) Intro
(01:00) What he likes to do during fight week
(01:57) His camp for Kharitonov
(03:33) How he copes with grappling
(05:07) Why he chose to make his MMA return at Eagle
(06:47) Boxing projects
(07:35) His contract with Eagle FC
(08:19) His thoughts on Saki’s return to kickboxing
(09:41) Whether he misses competing in kickboxing
(11:46) Updates on his leg injury
(12:48) His thoughts on MMA weight classes
(14:22) Commenting on Evans’ return after a nearly four-year hiatus
(15:31) Outro

Tudor Leonte started writing about mixed martial arts in 2013 for Italian media outlets. His journey with Sherdog began in 2018 and he now covers One Championship and countless European shows. You can follow him on Twitter @MrTudorLeonte.