Perth's first UFC promotion will have special significance for world-ranked Australian light heavyweight Tyson Pedro.
The No.13-ranked Pedro and his fellow Sydneysider and brother-in-law, emerging heavyweight Tai Tuivasa, are two of the Australians fighting on the UFC 221 main card at Perth Arena on Sunday.
Pedro fights Russian Saparbek Safarov and former Sydney Roosters junior Tuivasa takes on Frenchman Cyril Asker.
That Pedro gravitated towards mixed martial arts should come as no surprise given his family background.
"My dad ran King of the Cage, which was one of the first cage fights in Perth, so just to go back there and fight is pretty big," Pedro told AAP.
"I used to hold the cage door and open it for fighters so that's when I was like 'OK, this is what I'm going to do'."
Pedro is looking to rebound from a decision loss in his last fight to Sweden's Ilir Latifi in Canada in September, which was his first defeat in seven MMA bouts.
"I was doing the opposite of what I should have been doing with a wrestler of his ability and just concentrating more on my strengths this fight, rather than my opponent's," Pedro said.
"I was so fixated on how good a wrestler he was, I forgot to work on my strengths.
"Safarov is not ranked, so it (a win) won't do much for me rankings-wise. but after that I'm going for top 10.
"Within two years, Ill be top five and having a shot at that title."
Unranked Tuivasa, who has won all eight of his MMA fights by first round KO, including his UFC debut in Sydney last November, has similar aspirations.
"The quicker I'm out of there, the quicker I'm off to the pub or the quicker I get a feed," Tuivasa said.
"By the end of this year, I want to be knocking on the top-10, or top-15 door, and then start really having a crack at the best fighters in the world."
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