Tyrone Spong Impressed by UFC in Dublin, Wants to Discuss WSOF, Glory Contracts

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After witnessing the electric atmosphere at Saturday's UFC Fight Night card in Dublin, Tyrone Spong is dreaming big. The renowned kickboxer says he is out of contract with both Glory and World Series of Fighting and will be looking to sit down with representatives of both organizations in the coming weeks to discuss new deals.

“Glory, we have to sit down and talk. My contract is over, but I am pretty sure they want to re-sign me because I am basically the face of Glory for all this time,” he told Sherdog.com. “WSOF, I think we gotta sit down. I don’t know. That’s my manager’s part. Glenn Robinson is the best manager out there. I just train and make sure that I am ready.”

Despite those remarks, a WSOF official recently told Sherdog.com that Spong remains under contract with the promotion. Spong wants to continue fighting for both WSOF and Glory, but he has also begun making overtures to the UFC after being caught up in the excitement of the UFC Fight Night Dublin event and its deafeningly vocal crowd.

“I said to Dana White, I just love to fight man, whatever it is. Judo, karate, boxing, kickboxing, cock-fighting, sumo, whatever it is,” he said. “I just loved the crowd. It was amazing, really one of the best UFC events I have attended. This crowd was just amazing. It definitely pumped me up.”

In addition to the vocal throng at the O2 Arena, Spong was impressed by the efforts of the fighters in the Octagon on Saturday night.

“The crowd was definitely the highlight of the night without a doubt. And to add to the highlight you had awesome performances from all the fighters, they all showed up and put on great fights,” he said. “And for the organization itself, what more can you ask for than for your main event to be an exciting fight and to bring what all the hype was about?”

Spong is no stranger to big entrances himself, but did he feel any pangs of jealousy when McGregor made his way into the cage accompanied by the roars of his countrymen?

“[No,] I wasn’t jealous because I know these guys are working really hard. Conor McGregor is a great athlete, I do support him. I like his style,” Spong replied.

Back in April, Spong found himself facing off with Gokhan Saki in the final of the GLORY 15: “Istanbul” light-heavyweight tournament. The world title was on the line, and an epic fight was expected.

Instead, Spong found himself on the canvas with a broken shin less than a minute into the first round, his low kick effort having been checked hard by Saki. It was operated on within 48 hours and barely a week later, Spong was posting videos of himself walking on the wounded leg.

“Man you already know. I am the brother of superman. Wolverine is jealous of me,” he said. “The injury is coming along pretty good. I am not rushing it; I am taking it easy. It was three months ago that I had this injury. What can I say? I have been blessed with good genes.”

Spong expects to be able to come back before the end of the year and says he is keeping an open mind on opponents. Although he is now 0-2 against Saki, that is one rematch he would like to have.

“What do the fans want, you know? I am a guy who cares a lot about his fans and I just want to give the fans what they want,” he said. “Of course, on a personal stance that [Saki] fight went bad for me -- I broke my leg in a pretty bad way. It was a career-threatening injury, but once again… my name is Tyrone Spong.”