'Fat' baker's wild comeback into pro fight game as Aussie combat great takes on Turkish TV star

Tyson Pedro's life was heading in a very different direction just four months ago.

Disillusioned with boxing's unpredictable politics and a string of nasty injuries, he was happily throwing all of his energy into an unlikely new project.

The veteran Penrith combat sports star was already the co-owner of Drink West Brewery with fellow Westies Nathan Cleary and Tai Tuivasa.

Watch Australia's Tyson Pedro and all the action from the 2026 Professional Fighters League, live and on demand on Stan Sport

And now he was slinging gourmet pies with pastry chef and great mate Rama Pattison, who convinced him to launch Bakery Brothers in Sydney's Jamisontown.

Naturally, Pedro had to make sure the product was up to scratch.

"I got pretty fat there for a minute," Pedro told Wide World of Sports.

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"I think I got up to about 115(kg). So, coming back into MMA I had to get back down to 93. I like a challenge, so I always make it harder for myself."

Pedro, the ex-UFC gun, beat Taimoor Khan by TKO last year in what proved to be his one and only professional boxing bout.

But fighting is in the blood for the son of John Pedro - Australia's MMA pioneer.

"Sometimes stuff doesn't work out so I was going to wrap up the fighting and become a baker fulltime. But now we got the opportunity from PFL which I'm very thankful for and it's reignited a love for fighting again," Pedro says.

And so the 34-year-old will step into the cage in Belfast on Friday (AEST) in his PFL light heavyweight debut against Turkmenistan hardman Dovletdzhan Yagshimuradov.

After signing on, Pedro knew he needed to make an immediate change. Get out of the kitchen.

"I've been making everything that's in the bakery, I'm in there, on the tools. The lamb pie is my favourite but I pretty much eat everything in there, so that's why it's good to be away," he said.

Pedro has come through a sweaty, painful three months at Auckland's famed City Kickboxing gym, throwing down with new UFC champion Carlos Ulberg, Israel Adesanya and company.

"I went six months without training so it's been rough on the body," Pedro confirmed.

"I don't want to say struggle because I've actually really enjoyed it. But it's definitely taken a toll on the body. Everyone's pretty much peaking at the same time, so it has been a very intense camp. I came back and I was nowhere near as flexible, so I've been working a lot on that. I used to be able to do full splits!

"The intensity of City Kickboxing is crazy, sometimes you're doing four sessions a day. I'm getting a bit older now, (34) so I have to pick which sessions to take a rest."

While Pedro's foray into boxing didn't work out as planned, he said he learned plenty from the experience.

"The mental side of it. A big thing that I've picked up in boxing is the breaking down of an opponent, round by round, because it's unlikely that you're going to get knockouts in the early rounds with boxing, with the bigger gloves," he explained.

"With MMA, with those smaller gloves, you know, it can happen in the first couple of seconds. Not that it can't in boxing, but it's more important to try and break down the opponents, so I've been trying to implement that into the game.

"Also the pressure from boxing. I got that. The distancing is very different with MMA and boxing, so coming back, it took me a minute to incorporate that back into my style. Boxing is a lot closer, so I got caught with some big punches at first."

So what of his next opponent?

Nicknamed 'Wolfhound,' Yagshimuradov is a great story in his own right - a star actor who plays the role of Balaban Alp in the Turkish TV series Kurulus: Osman.

Pedro has watched more of Yagshimuradov's MMA career than Kurulus: Osman. The 36-year-old was PFL's light heavyweight champion in 2024.

"In classic me fashion, I've jumped straight in the deep end," he says.

"He's obviously a very skilled guy but the coaches have found some things that we can focus on. He likes to explode out and try and hurt you. So it should be an interesting fight. He's going to bring it and I'm going to bring it."

Pedro cracks up when quizzed about his new 'Kangaroo Paws' moniker that seems to be catching on.

It started when someone randomly listed it on his Tapology bio and after the initial embarrassment he is now just going to embrace it.

Pedro is fighting on the undercard of the main event between Ireland's Darragh Kelly and New Zealand's Jay-Jay Wilson.

No prizes for guessing who the Belfast faithful will be cheering for in that fight but Pedro hopes to get the locals on his side.

"I've always wanted to go to Ireland and I just found out that I've got some Irish in me, so that's pretty cool. My dad just told me randomly. I think he got a DNA test or something, so that's cool."

The final question is perhaps the most important one.

Aussie pies or Kiwi pies?

"Honestly, it's touch and go at the moment," Pedro said.

"I had one recently and I wasn't that impressed. But have you ever been to Blue Rose (in Auckland)? They had a Palusami pie there (taro leaves, coconut milk, and corned beef). Damn.

"Yeah, so I'll say New Zealand pies for now, but I'm pretty biased. Bakery Brothers pies are up there."