Interview: Dylan Tuke Rules Himself out of BAMMA 26

Dylan Tuke remains unbeaten after a back and forth main event in Liverpool on Saturday night at Shinobi Fighting Championships 8, where Next Generation Liverpool’s Adam Ventre put the Irish featherweight in plenty of trouble during the first round of their main event clash.

Ventre rocked Tuke on several occasions with powerful right hands in the first and forced him to evade a series of submissions. The first time we have seen the young Dubliner on wobbly legs in a fight, he rallied in the second round to secure a rear naked choke to go 3-0 as a professional.

Speaking back in Dublin, ‘The Nuke’ insisted that while he is disappointed with the performance, he is glad that he was able to overcome the early attacks of Ventre and eventually take the win.

“I’m not happy with the performance, but I still got the win. At the end of the day, that’s the most important thing,” he said.

“After the fight, it nearly felt like a loss. I had the emotions of a loss, but I still got the win. I got the choke in the second round. I’m a perfectionist, so, of course, I’m not happy with the performance.

“I always look great, and as far as I’m concerned, I looked terrible on Saturday night. It’s like I wasn’t in there. There are so many things I could’ve done better. To be honest, I wanted to pull out of the fight. I had a few injuries and nothing really felt right throughout my preparation. I’m glad that people got to see me overcome adversity.”

Having broken his hand seven weeks before fighting Ventre, Tuke revealed that he sustained another injury to his hand during their bout. Unfortunately for Irish fans, the teenage prospect has been forced to rule himself out of the upcoming BAMMA card at the 3 Arena on September 10. ‘The Nuke’ hopes to be back in action before the end of the year.

“I got a CT scan as soon as I got back thanks to the great safety measures that the Irish officials have put in place. We already have the results and everything is perfect compared to my original CT scans. The only thing wrong with me is that I have a broken hand. I think I may have broken it in two places.

“This basically rules me out of the BAMMA card. I’m not too mad about that because I want some time to myself, a little bit of time to relax.

“I don’t mind not taking a break through camps, but it’s just the broken hand that I don’t feel comfortable fighting with. I found out I had broken it about seven weeks before the Ventre fight, and that obviously didn’t give it enough time to heal. I won’t do that to myself again.”

One of the most highly touted fighters outside of the UFC, Paddy Pimblett, engaged in a social media back and forth with Tuke ahead of his meeting with Ventre. After cornering his teammate during the explosive main event, Pimblett and Tuke “exchanged pleasantries”, which Tuke thinks has ended the supposed spat.

“I don’t think we ever had any beef, I just like annoying people,” he laughed. “He’s alright. He’s a cool guy. We exchanged some pleasantries after the fight and I think we’re all good. I don’t have any bad feelings about it. I wish him all the best.”

In an article for TheSprawlMMA, John King claimed that Ventre is considering retiring after his loss to Tuke. Tuke insisted that should his former foe choose to hang up his gloves, it was an honour to share the cage with him.

“I’m sure he’s thinking about what he’s going to do now. After Saturday he’s 4-3 and as we all know, records are so important in MMA. Losses are tough in this game. You can be 6-0, just about to get signed and then you suffer a loss and you get knocked back for another year. We don’t put that kind of value on records as fighters, but other people definitely do.

“Whatever he chooses to do I wish him the best of luck. He’s a true fighter and he’s a really tough guy. If he does retire, it was a pleasure to share the cage with him.”

@PetesyCarroll