The UFC 292 pay-per-view event on August 19 saw several winners, including middleweight veteran Brad Tavares.
Tavares, a former top-ranked 185-pound fighter with 23 fights under his belt in mixed martial arts’ largest platform, secured a victory over former champion Chris Weidman.
This win comes as a rebound for Tavares after suffering consecutive losses to Dricus Du Plessis and Bruno Silva in previous events.
Tavares has expressed his desire for redemption, with Du Plessis being one of the opponents he aims to face again.
Tavares Seeks Rematch with Du Plessis
In a recent interview on MMA Junkie Radio, Tavares shared his wishlist of potential opponents.
Du Plessis, who currently holds the #1 spot in the middleweight rankings, is someone Tavares wants to face again. Du Plessis has achieved impressive victories against Darren Till, Derek Brunson, and Robert Whittaker since defeating Tavares in July 2022.
“Obviously, I would love to get it back with some of the people I dropped to, one of those being Dricus,” Tavares said. “After me, he went on a run, and if I could get that fight back, I would love that.
“Considering where he is and where I’m at – I’m coming off a win, but before that, two losses. It may not make a lot of sense right now,” Tavares continued. “But maybe in the near future, if there’s a possibility to rematch him, I would love that.”
Another fighter on Tavares’ desired opponent list is former two-division champion Conor McGregor. McGregor criticized Tavares on social media while providing commentary for Tavares’ UFC 292 appearance, referring to the veteran as a “little arse wipe.”
Although Tavares acknowledges that a fight against McGregor is unlikely, he stated that he would even be open to facing a juiced-up McGregor who is using performance-enhancing drugs.
“McGregor is a loud mouth… He’s an idiot,” Tavares said. “If McGregor is calling me out, perfect… I know he’s heavy right now, I don’t know if he can make 170, he’s all juiced-up to the gills. If you want to come up to 185 and take your frustrations out with your leg, if you think you can do a better job than Chris did, by all means, let’s go.
“I’ll sign some waiver or disclaimer or whatever it needs to be, I’m okay with him not being in the USADA testing pool. I’m all for it. Take all the juice that you want. Come fight me at 185, and I promise I will smash your legs even worse,” Tavares continued. “I’m serious, I would love to fight the juiced-up Conor McGregor. I know it’s unlikely. I know it will never happen. But if you’re asking for my wishlist, that would be on it.”
While Tavares’ next opponent is uncertain, he aims to climb back up the middleweight rankings after his recent win on August 19.
If Tavares can string together a series of victories and other circumstances align, a rematch with Du Plessis may become a possibility.
Brad Tavares takes the decision!@BradTavares spoils Weidman's return with the win in our #UFC292 Featured Prelim pic.twitter.com/eBjJDSszVE
— UFC (@ufc) August 20, 2023
- Read Also: Merab Dvalishvili Says Chris Weidman Was Unprepared To Face Brad Tavares At UFC 292: ‘He Wasn’t Watching His Fights’
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