Only one of these two Ultimate Fighting Championship middleweights will have a number next to their name when the dust settles.
On Wednesday, Brazilian outlet Super Lutas reported that the Jan. 21 pay-per-view offering in Rio de Janeiro had its first big fight lined up. In the middleweight category, Brad Tavares (19-7) will square off against rising talent Gregory Rodrigues (13-4) at UFC 283. In addition to other outlets, Rodrigues has confirmed this matchup on his Instagram on Thursday. While there is no headliner on the billing as of yet, another scrap at 145 pounds was also announced earlier this week and confirmed by one of its competitors on Thursday, at 145 pounds between Josiane Nunes and Zarah Fairn dos Santos.
While he is ranked among the top 15, Tavares has won three and lost three dating back to 2018. Most recently, the Hawaiian fell short to Dricus Du Plessis in a thrilling three-round affair. That defeat put an end to a short win streak amassed in 2021 to future Professional Fighters League talents Antonio Carlos Jr. and Omari Akhmedov. Of note, both of his wins over those two fighters were their last respective appearances in the UFC. Tavares is tied for the second-most wins in UFC middleweight history (14) along with Anderson Silva and Derek Brunson, while he holds the top spot for the most decision victories (12).
Since making his promotional debut in June 2021, “Robocop” Rodrigues has already performed more finishes than his opponent has in Tavares’ over 12-year stint with the UFC. He has scored three knockouts over Jun Yong Park, Julian Marquez and Chidi Njokuani, the latest of which coming in September in a blood-and-guts performance that saw his glabella – the place between the eyebrows and above the nose – sliced wide open in one of the most visceral cuts in recent memory. The Brazilian celebrates a finish rate of 85%, which stands far higher than his foe’s of 37%.
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