Despite the recent death of his mother, Dylan Tooke has no plans to back out of the upcoming PFL Europe 2 card.
Tooke (7-4) will co-headline PFL Europe 2 with Cain Moser (14-6) on June 8 at the Utilita Arena in Newcastle, Tyne and Wear, England. The Irish prospect was hit by tragedy a few weeks ago when his mother passed away.
However, “The Nuk” refused to withdraw from future matches and recently explained his decision. According to Tuke, his mother, who taught him mixed martial arts, would probably have slapped him if he didn’t give his opponent the fight he promised, and that he didn’t want to miss out on the opportunity to fight on such a big stage. He says he definitely didn’t want it.
“So my mother was a flowing person.” [jiu-jitsu] Women themselves. She was a black belt in her own right. And we have promised Cain Musa to take the knock, and in three weeks me and him will get the knock,” Tooke said at PFL Europe 2 media day.
“So if I’d dropped the promise and not followed through on my word, she probably would’ve hit me more. So, she would’ve wanted me to fight. She would’ve wanted me to compete. The only reason I compete is because of her.”
“She got me into martial arts. And it’s a big spotlight for me, you know what I’m saying? So I’ll take her there…her would have wanted that. So this is where I am. I didn’t even think about pulling out. And coach, James, they all. , puts some effort into me every day, but you know what I mean, so yeah, we fight.”
Musa also thinks the Irishman deserves credit for going through with the fight despite the tragedy. “I said before I started this interview that I wanted to express my condolences to my opponent, but I also wanted to pay tribute to him for being a solid member and going through with the fight,” Musa said. “For me personally, I don’t know how I’m going to feel, I don’t know if I have the strength to go through with it, but seeing you here right now, being there and ready to take the fight, I have nothing but respect and in a way it’s commendable.”
Tuque currently boasts a 2-1 record under the PFL banner following an impressive submission win over Yazid Shushan in December 2023. Moussa, meanwhile, has been on a two-fight slump, with his last win dating back to September 2022, when he won a unanimous decision over Georgi Karakhanyan at Bellator 285.
