Brad Tavares, som börjar vara en veteran i sporten, mötte senast UFC:s nyaste stjärna Israel Adesanya. Mötet ägde rum i juli förra året och Tavares har sedan dess fått ta det lugnt pga skador. Före matchen med Adesanya så hade Tavares fyra vinster i sina senaste matcher.
I en intervju med mmajunkie så berättade Tavares bland annat att han mötte Adesanya med en bruten fot.
“Put it this way: I went into that fight and I tried to box, just straight-up box, a badass professional kickboxer – a guy who’s been doing it years and has multiple fights. What does he have, like 80-something kickboxing fights? And he’s probably lost only like two, three? I don’t know. I know he has some crazy record, though. That’s the thing, I look at that fight and I’m like, ‘Hey, there’s things that – I know what went wrong there.’ And I’m not going to sit here and use my foot being broken as an excuse, you know. I tried to actually kick in that fight. I kicked him in his leg one time and my foot instantly blew up, swole up.
“I knew that, when I put it back down, I was like, ‘If I kick again there’s a chance that I can’t even stand on it.’ So kicking with the right leg is out of the question. And, for me, leg kicks and my kicks are one of the biggest parts of my game. But I was like, ‘You know what, let’s get through this, though. Let’s go box this guy.’ And didn’t end up working out in my favor. But, like you said, it makes me excited. Because I know I can beat that guy. I know what it takes and what I need to do to beat that guy, and he’s a champion now.”
Tavares har för närvarande ingen match bokad, men han är fast besluten på vad han vill göra när han återvänder.
“That’s the main goal: it’s that strap around your waist. That title, so, whatever fight gets me there.”
För Adesanyas del så är det en titel fight senare i år. Vi följer utvecklingen vidare.
