Tyrone Spong explains return for Karate Combat: ‘I’m an assassin for hire’

Tyron Spong went 14-0 as a professional boxer after a very successful kickboxing career, but walked away from the game in 2019. Other than a brief return to MMA in 2022, the heavyweight knockout machine was pretty much gone from the spotlight. That all changes on May 2, when Surinamese-Dutch striker enters the Karate Combat pit for his first match in over three years, challenging Sam Alvey for the heavyweight belt.

Speaking with MMA Fighting ahead of Karate Combat 54 in Dubai, Spong explained what lit up the competitive fire after so long.

“I just feel I’m not done yet, you know? I’m physically, mentally still in it,” Spong said. “Obviously, I’ve been doing it for over two decades and a lot of fights, a lot of fights, a lot of fights. I just needed a break. Life happens, things happen, you focus on other business, try to get some stuff going because as we know you can’t keep fighting forever. No matter how blessed or gifted you are, with a good athletic body, physical traits, there’s going to be a time where you either just don’t want to do it no more or can’t do it no more. I took that time off to focus on other aspects in life that needed some attention.”

On top of that, watching his 16-year-old son fall in love with the art that has made his father so popular around the world was decisive to “awaken the competitive drive” in his heart.

“I pray none of my kids would ever want to fight, but that’s all he wants to do,” Spong said. “And I feel as his father, it’s my job to show him how it’s done. My son, to have him at this age — I mean, I became champion many times, but I’m sure he experienced it differently at that young age. He’s more mature now. This has his interest, he wants to do it, and that is one of my biggest motivations right now.”

“I’m going to fight this fight and go from there,” he added. “I’m gonna be active because I found joy again in the training, being in shape, training with my son, with the guys at the gym. My plan is to be active and blast the scene again like I did in the past. One thing is for sure, success from the past is no guarantee for the future, but I feel good.”

Spong won’t have his son in Dubai because of the distance to the United States — and all the logistics involved in being the star of a fight week. On top of that, he’s in a mission there, and having to worry about those around you could be a distraction.

“I’m a little bit old school,” Spong said. “I might even be considered boring because I don’t like none of this shit. I don’t like interviews. I like to have my work speak for myself. I’ve been like that my whole career. And obviously, we live in different times now where society as a whole has changed. A lot of stupidity gets rewarded and the hard workers and the people that actually deserve it don’t. I don’t like taking people to my fights. If you want to come, come, don’t tell me, I don’t really give a shit because it’s me going in there to handle my business and do what I prepared myself for doing.”

Asked about today’s “stupidity” in combat sports, the 39-year-old veteran sounded not a fan of the always-growing trash talking trend in the game.

“It’s is entertaining. It’s just not in my character,” Spong said. “I do understand that fans like it. Certain people like it. Me, myself, I couldn’t give a f*ck about it. If I’m being honest, I don’t care at all. When it comes to that, I think I’m very old school. I come from a time when there was no social media like that. It was very much alive even back then. So if people spoke about you, that meant that you really did something, not just talk on the internet. You have a lot of guys now that do both. They’re very good and they also promote themselves very well. I think the best promotion you can do and have. is f*cking fight good, you know? If I like it? No, not really.”

Spong stayed away for many years, but has been approached by other companies since. Karate Combat presented a unique style that got him interested. He faces Sam Alvey, an experienced MMA fighter who left the UFC on a shocking nine-fight winless skid before turning his career around with a trio of wins at Karate Combat.

“Every match interests me,” Spong said. “Every challenge. As long as it’s a challenge and the people like it and I get paid, I’m an assassin for hire, brother. … I did all the disciplines. I had success in all of them. I just think it’s it’s a fresh breath of air now in the fight scene. The landscape of combat sports is ever changing every time and I think this is something that I that I like. It’s it’s very fan-friendly. I think it has a big future because the one thing you see when people watch MMA and UFC or whatever it is, when it goes to the ground and it gets stalled there, people don’t really like that. They wanna see violence. They wanna see action-packed fights. And I think this format has that.”

For someone as experienced as Spong, a man that has seen it all in rings across the globe, what would the Karate Combat belt feel like?

“First things first, I gotta go out there and win it first and then I think I can best answer that question,” Spong said. “But at the same time a title don’t mean sh*t to me, to be honest. I don’t know how many belts I have at home. I have a lot in boxing, in kickboxing, 10-time world champion, six different weight classes. I’ve defeated a lot of big legends and champions in the game.

“And to be honest, maybe I’m too humble when it comes down to it. Some people might say I’m arrogant for saying that I’m a 10-time world champion, that I beat all these big names. I don’t think so. It’s facts. That’s what I did. I like speaking facts. And it didn’t change anything for me. I’m just a normal guy. I like being on the farm, being busy with my animals. And this fighting, I’m just lucky I found something that I excel in and that I’m decent at. But winning a title doesn’t mean sh*t to me. You gotta be a champion in life. That’s more important. You gotta be a champion in life. I want my children to look at me and say, ‘he’s a champion because he’s our dad’, you know?”

With numerous knockouts in kickboxing, and a 93 percent finishing rate as a boxer, Spong says there’s no secret as to how he expects to get it done versus Alvey in Dubai. He wants a knockout, but won’t call it.

“People know who I am,” Spong said. “My record speaks for itself. I have a lot of knockouts. They know I’m a powerful fighter, but I’ve never predicted fights in my life because I don’t have a glass bowl. I can’t predict the future. If I could, I would make the world a better place. I know one thing: When I fight, I find a way, and by any means necessary. I go for the win, like always.”