The Scotland-based Irishman sounds like a man with hubris to burn and bones to pick in advance of his first Professional Fighters League assignment of 2024, as he collides with Kane Mousah in the PFL Europe 2 co-main event this Saturday at Utilita Arena in Newcastle, England. It serves as Tuke’s first appearance since the PFL boosted its talent pool with the purchase of Bellator MMA in November.
“All the same [to me],” he told Sherdog.com. “It means f--- all. F--- them all. Anyone can get it. Came into my gym and they tried to go at me, and I choked them. I’ve yet to meet a person I can’t take that back and choke, so come get some.”
Mousah, meanwhile, enters the cage on the heels of back-to-back losses. The Manchester Top Team rep last fought at PFL Europe 1 on March 7, when he wound up on the wrong side of a unanimous decision against the unbeaten Jakub Kaszuba. Mousah, 38, went 3-3 in Bellator prior to his joining the Professional Fighters League roster.
“I didn’t really look at him much,” Tuke said. “I looked at a couple of videos. My coach looked at a couple of things. I’ve seen Mousah fight a couple of times. He’s very, very durable, very experienced, good hands. He’s a cool, experienced guy. He’ll come to fight, [and] he’ll come to try and take my head off, like everyone does.”
Tuke, a Dublin native, trains under James Doolan at Higher Level Martial Arts in Whitburn, Scotland. Steven Ray, Paul Craig and Danny Henry are among those who have called the successful gym home.
“It’s the same every day,” Tuke said. “We do camps, but it’s more fine-tuned to me and what I do. I don’t know, it’s the same s---. I’m blessed to have a great team around me. Our team is always very happy and vibrant. I’m very blessed that I can be on such a great team with such a great group of guys and such a great coach, and I’m just very humbled and very grateful for that.”
Mousah figures to have the crowd on his side when the two men meet in a matter of days. At least on the surface, Tuke could not care less.
“I have my coach. I don’t need anyone,” he said. “My [grandmother] is coming over, so that’ll be cool. [She] always comes to my fights. I don’t need f---ing anyone there. Me, him, alone in a room, alone in a toilet, alone in f---ing anywhere. Honest to God, it doesn’t make a difference. I don’t hear any of them anyway.”