Jon Tuck on recent tours to the Middle East: ‘I always give back to a lot of the military troops’

UFC lightweight Jon Tuck has been out of action since a submission win over Tae Hyun Bang nearly a year ago on the UFC’s debut card in Manila, Philippines. Tuck suffered a severe shoulder injury in the bout with Bang and was sidelined up until this past winter, when he was finally fully recovered and able to get back into training. Tuck returns to the cage this weekend against Nick Hein at UFC Fight Night 87 in Rotterdam, The Netherlands.

“I was injured in the fight and I was hoping with physical therapy, I could get into another fight coming off that win,” Tuck told BloodyElbow.com’s The MMA Circus. “They were trying to set me up with Nick Hein actually in the Super Saitama Arena in Japan but my shoulder was nagging. I was trying to go through training camp and getting in shape in case but the doctors didn’t clear me. So unfortunately I had to step out of that bout and get my shoulder repaired. I was in really great shape so going into the surgery, I had all the muscle I needed to bounce back with physical therapy. I showed up to physical therapy practically every single day, I treated it like a training camp to get to 100% and I think that’s what got me back faster than most fighters.

“It’s pretty tough just sitting on the sidelines. I try to look at it in a positive way. Even though these guys are not at my level, they’re climbing the ranks. But I feel like I’m getting that mental strength even more and also, rounding out my game while I’m …

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