UFC Lincoln’s Jon Tuck on why he’s fighting for the ancestors

Jon ‘Super Saiyan’ Tuck (10-4) first fought in the Octagon back in 2012. It was then that he lost out on an opportunity to join the cast of The Ultimate Fighter 15. But months later he was back in the eight-sided cage, this time in Macau, China, where he beat Zhang Tiequan.

Since then Tuck, who was born in Chalan Pago-Ordot on the tiny island of Guam, has fought in the UFC seven more times. He holds wins over Jake Lindsey and Tae Hyun Bang and is the owner of close (and controversial losses) to Kevin Lee, Josh Emmett, and Damien Brown.

Last time out, at 2017’s UFC Singapore, Tuck faced Japanese icon Takanori Gomi. It didn’t take long for Tuck to stun the Fireball Kid and then sink in a fight winning choke. The first round finish might be the most eye-catching result on his resume, but for Tuck it’s special for a different reason.

“Gomi was one of the guy’s that I really admired when I was growing up and first training in mixed martial arts,” said Tuck to Bloody Elbow. “It was a huge honour to fight him. I’d always wanted to fight him, but I never called him out in a disrespectful way. It was because of respect that I wanted to go in there and beat a legend of the sport.”

Tuck claimed that his muted celebrations after stopping Gomi were also a sign of deference to the former PRIDE lightweight champion. “I just gave all the love to him because he didn’t have to take a fight with a young hungry guy like me, but he did and I appreciate that.”

Next up for Tuck, at this weekend’s UFC Fight Night: Gaethje vs. Vick, is Drew Dober (19-8). Dober bested Guam-born and Saipan-raised Frank Camacho in January.

“He comes forward, he’s aggressive,” said Tuck when asked to break down Dober’s strengths and weaknesses. “He’s a mix of Muay Thai and wrestling. He has good strikes coming in and out, but I don’t know how he’s going to do when I put the pressure on him. His losses are usually from either getting out-struck or getting submitted. I’m looking for the finish, I’m looking to expose those weaknesses and holes.”

To prepare for Dober, Tuck has been in California splitting time between Rafael Cordeiro and Beneil Dariush at Kings MMA and James Luhrsen and Brian Ortega at Black Belt Surfing. Tuck said those crews have helped him mature into a more complete — and dangerous — fighter. However, he’d argue that what has him most prepared for this next stage in his MMA journey is the spirit that resides within him, thanks to his lineage and his island home.

Guam, an island in the western Pacific Ocean, is roughly the size of Chicago and it’s home to around 160,000 people. The island has been populated by the Chamorro people for at least 4,000 years. The famed Portuguese explorer Ferdinand Magellan, in the service of Spain, landed on Guam in 1521.

Magellan didn’t enjoy his stay in Guam and left it with a smear that would last centuries. He probably liked it more than where he went next, though. From Guam Magellan landed in the Philippines, where he was killed by the folk hero Lapu-Lapu.

“We were too nice, we let him go,” joked Tuck about the plight of Magellan. “The funny thing about it, our culture, we’re a giving culture. If you go to our island, we show you love. We like to give goods. When Magellan came to our island, he was taken food and clothes weaved from coconuts fibers, whatever provisions that we could provide. And then our people would go on the ship and it was like a trade for us. We give and we receive. But he thought we were stealing and he labeled us as the Island of Thieves, Islas de los Ladrones. But time caught up with him and they chopped his head off over in the Philippines.”

Spanish colonists arrived in Guam some 147 years after Magellan. The Spanish Empire held the island until it was captured by the US in 1898, during the Spanish-American War. Today it is classified as an unincorporated and organized territory of the United States. Guamanians receive American citizenship by birth.

The history of Guam, along with its startling beauty, fills Tuck with a pride and excitement that’s hard to hide. He was eager to tell stories of the island’s past and spoke with reverence about the duty he feels in representing his home.

“To represent Guam, it’s just a huge honour,” he said. “It’s a huge honour to represent my people and everybody who supports me. For me, that seafaring culture that we had from the past, it’s the same thing that I’m doing with fighting. Basically, I’m seafaring to go and make strides for my people and to represent my culture and ancestry. And going out there, every time that I fight, I always put it on for my island. Not only myself and my family, but my island.”

 Anton Tabuena

Tuck visually represents Guam at UFC events through the donning of the sinahi, a carved necklace that has become his signature (along with his Dragonball Z inspired name and hair dye jobs). The sinahi is more than fashion, it’s an important symbol in Chamorro culture.

“I go into a fight not only to represent my people, but to honour the ancestors,” explained Tuck. “I go into the jungle sometime to meditate. I go into the ocean and meditate when I am there so I can absorb all the energy and then I wear the sinahi. The necklace is carved down from a giant clam shell. What’s left is the hardest piece from the base of the shell. It represents people of strength, so I just represent and connect my people through that and not only that, but my fighting spirit that I bring to the Octagon every single time.”

Tuck said that the sinahi is usually reserved for chiefs and the most senior members of a family, but he was gifted one by an elder and master carver. He said having such an important symbol around his neck, one which is usually worn by elders, connects him to his ancestors. It’s a familiar feeling for him. Since he was a child he’s felt in tune with the history of his island. He said his old head on young shoulders was pretty noticeable back then.

 Photo by Justin Sullivan/Getty Images

“Our ancestors are called the taotaomo’na. The taotaomo’nas are the people of the land, of the past. Growing up, I wasn’t into too much trouble, but I was always doing something in martial arts, and people would say that I’ve always had something inside of me that resembled the people of the past. And they said, ‘Oh sometimes I think that you have the strength of a taotaomo’na.’ Or they kind of say that I have a spirit within me that protects me.”

Being told you have your ancestors on your shoulders and a spirit within you might be overwhelming for some. These things, along with the expectations of an entire island, may also add unwanted pressure, especially for a professional athlete who already has to contend with the risks of serious injury (or worse) every time they compete.

But Tuck scoffed at the idea of eyes from Guam (and the taotaomo’nas) adding pressure on him to perform. “There’s no pressure! I’d be doing this if I was from any part of the world, but the fact that I am from a beautiful paradise and I get to represent that — with my fighting spirit and my energy — it’s just an honour.”

You can see Tuck represent his island by tuning into UFC Fight Pass this Saturday night. Tuck will walk the sinahi to the Octagon in Lincoln, Nebraska during the early prelim card, which begins at 6:30PM ET.