'He took four years away from me': Injury exile teeing up Tyson Pedro's dream redemption fight

Judging by his last fight, Tyson Pedro is on a warpath.

In his long-awaited return to the octagon, the Aussie fan favourite ran through Isaac Villanueva, ending their bout in the first round in devastating fashion.

It was the first time in four years that we'd witnessed Pedro in action, and we're certainly glad to have him back.

As for the rest of the UFC's light heavyweight division, they're probably dreading seeing the sight of him.

This weekend, Pedro's biblical second coming continues as he takes on Harry Hunsucker at UFC 278 in Salt Lake City.

The 30-year is fully recovered from the potentially career-altering knee injury that kept him sidelined for four long years.

And when the cage doors slam shut this weekend, Pedro plans on showing why the light heavyweight divison felt so stagnant without him in it.

But there's something boiling away in the background that the western Sydney icon feels he needs to take care of to truly complete his comeback tour.

"I'm 100 per cent focused on Harry Hunsucker, so I try not to look too far ahead at future match-ups," Pedro told SPORTbible.

"But Shogun Rua, man, I'd love to be on the Israel Adesanya card in November with him.

"I've got to get through this fight first, but who knows, Shogun at Madison Square Garden would be hectic.

"I feel like he took four years away from me so I've gotta get that back."

As for his fight in Salt Lake City, Hunsucker is a bloke Pedro and his team are all too familiar with.

"Tai Tuivasa fought him, so he's given me a couple of pointers which he recognised from their previous scrap," Pedro added.

"Obviously Hunsucker's not going to be a fan of Polynesians after this one with Justin Tafa, Tai Tuivasa and now me. That right there is a hard run of Samoans back-to-back-to-back."

And it turns out Pedro has been training with some of the best mixed martial artists on planet too.

"I'm a way better fighter than I was in my last fight," he said.

"I did a full camp at City Kickboxing. Those guys are amazing. There's a reason why those guys are doing so well, man. That was the hardest training camp I've ever done, mentally and physically.

"Stuff that they find that's their fundamentals, I didn't necessarily know. So it's almost like coming out as an amateur again. I love being a student, that's what's so good about mixed martial arts because it's never ending - you're always learning.

"My diary is full from all their philosophies. I had to have three journals."