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   » » Wiki: Brad Tavares
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Bradley Kaipo Sarbida Tavares (born December 21, 1987) is an American professional mixed martial artist who competes in the Middleweight division of the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC). A professional since 2007, Tavares fought in regional promotions before joining the UFC's The Ultimate Fighter 11 in 2010.


High school career
Tavares excelled in high school athletics at Waiakea High School competing in football and in track and field. After high school, he worked as a ramp agent for Hawaiian Airlines. He was 19 when he first fought as a professional.


Mixed martial arts career

Early career
Tavares started his MMA career in 2007 in his home state of , compiling a record of 5–0, with three technical knockouts and two submission wins. He originally started training with Universal Combat Sports in Pearl City, Hawaii, where he competed In Got Skills, then fought his first MMA match in Farrington High School in Kalihi where he got a first round KO, there he got approached by MMAD to train there, MMAD (Mixed Martial Arts Development) ran by the likes of Randy Leuder, Brandon Wolff (UFC), and Rob Hesia. He still returns home to Hawaii to train with HQ MMA when not training at Xtreme Couture in Las Vegas.


The Ultimate Fighter 11
In March 2010, Tavares was announced as part of the season of The Ultimate Fighter. In the elimination round, Tavares defeated Jordan Smith via KO (knee) after less than a minute. He was selected fifth by Team Liddell and tenth overall.

Tavares then defeated James Hammortree in the second preliminary fight. After two rounds, the fight was declared a draw and the fighters went to a third round. Tavares took control in the third round and was declared the winner, advancing him into the quarter finals.

In the quarter-finals, Tavares fought . As the first round ended, Baczynski threw an illegal to the head of Tavares. Baczynski immediately apologized, knowing he could have seriously hurt Tavares, who went to his corner and slumped. After discussing the matter with the doctors, Herb Dean stopped the fight and Tavares was declared the winner by disqualification, advancing him to the semi-finals.

In the semi-finals, Tavares faced teammate , for a place in the live final. After a fairly even first two rounds, Tavares was rocked late in the third. McGee then locked in a rear naked choke, handing Tavares his first loss.


Ultimate Fighting Championship
At , Tavares had a rematch with . Tavares defeated Baczynski via unanimous decision.

Tavares next faced UFC veteran on January 1, 2011, at UFC 125. He won the fight via KO in the first round.

Tavares faced Aaron Simpson on July 2, 2011, at UFC 132, replacing Jason Miller, who was removed from the card. He lost the fight via unanimous decision.

Tavares was expected to face on October 29, 2011, at UFC 137. However, Creduer was forced out of the bout, and he was replaced by promotional newcomer Dustin Jacoby. Unfortunately, Tavares was pulled out of the newly made fight due to an injury, setting up a fight between Jacoby and fellow UFC newcomer .

Tavares fought on May 15, 2012, at . Tavares won a closely contested fight via unanimous decision (29–28, 29–28, 29–28).

Tavares next defeated former middleweight champion and UFC newcomer Tom Watson via split decision on at .

Tavares faced on March 3, 2013, at UFC on Fuel TV 8 and won via unanimous decision.

Tavares faced on August 28, 2013, at UFC Fight Night 27. He won the fight via unanimous decision.

Tavares faced on January 15, 2014, at UFC Fight Night 35. He won the fight via unanimous decision.

Tavares faced at UFC on Fox 11. He lost the fight via unanimous decision, ending his five-fight win streak.

Tavares next faced on August 16, 2014, at UFC Fight Night 47. He lost the fight via TKO in the second round, marking the first time Tavares had been stopped as a professional.

Tavares faced on January 3, 2015, at UFC 182. He won the fight by unanimous decision.

Tavares faced Robert Whittaker on May 10, 2015, at UFC Fight Night 65. He lost the fight via knockout in the first round.

Tavares was very briefly linked to a bout with on August 6, 2016, at UFC Fight Night 92. However, Tavares was forced out of the fight with a rib injury, and he was replaced by .

Tavares returned to face Caio Magalhães on September 10, 2016, at UFC 203. He was awarded a split decision victory.

Tavares was expected to face Héctor Lombard on January 28, 2017, at UFC on Fox 23. However, the bout was scrapped on January 10 due to undisclosed reasons.

Tavares faced on July 7, 2017, at . He won the fight by unanimous decision.

Tavares faced on October 7, 2017, at UFC 216. He won the fight by unanimous decision.

Tavares faced on April 14, 2018, at UFC on Fox 29. He won the fight via technical knockout in round three.

Tavares faced on July 6, 2018, at . He lost the fight via unanimous decision.

Tavares was expected to face on October 26, 2019, at UFC Fight Night 162 However, Heinisch withdrew from the bout, leading Tavares to replace against at UFC 244 on November 2, 2019. He lost the fight via knockout in the first round.

Tavares was scheduled to face Antônio Carlos Júnior on March 14, 2020, at UFC Fight Night 170. However, Tavares was forced to pull out of the fight due to an anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) injury. The bout with Antônio Carlos Júnior was rescheduled for on January 24, 2021 at UFC 257. Tavares won the fight via unanimous decision.

Tavares faced on July 10, 2021, at UFC 264. He won the fight via split decision.

Tavares was scheduled to face on December 4, 2021, at UFC on ESPN 31. He eventually pulled out in mid November and was replaced by .

Tavares next faced Dricus du Plessis at UFC 276 on July 2, 2022. He lost the fight via unanimous decision.

Tavares was scheduled to face Gregory Rodrigues on January 21, 2023, at UFC 283. However, Tavares withdrawn from the bout due to an injury.

Tavares to faced Bruno Silva on April 22, 2023, at UFC Fight Night 222. He lost the fight via technical knockout in the first round.

Tavares faced former UFC Middleweight Champion at UFC 292 on August 19, 2023. He won the fight via unanimous decision.

Tavares faced Gregory Rodrigues on February 10, 2024, at UFC Fight Night 236. In a back-and-forth fight, Tavares ended up losing by technical knockout in the third round.

Tavares was scheduled to face Jun Yong Park on July 20, 2024, at UFC on ESPN 60. However, the bout was scrapped after the weigh-ins when Park was not medically cleared to compete. The bout was rescheduled to take place on October 12, 2024 at UFC Fight Night 244. Tavares lost the fight via split decision.

Tavares faced Gerald Meerschaert on April 5, 2025 at UFC on ESPN 65. Via unanimous decision, Tavares won his 16th middleweight bout, which ties the record with for most wins in UFC middleweight history.

On May 3, 2025, it was reported that Tavares was removed from the UFC roster. However, on May 14, Tavares stated that he had signed a new contract with the UFC.

Tavares faced Robert Bryczek on September 6, 2025 at UFC Fight Night 258. He lost the fight by technical knockout in the third round.


Championships and accomplishments

Mixed martial arts
  • Ultimate Fighting Championship
    • Tied () for most wins in UFC middleweight division history (16)
    • Most bouts in UFC Middleweight division history (27)
    • Most fight time in UFC Middleweight division history (5:49:18)
    • Most decision wins in UFC Middleweight division history (14)
      • Tied () for most decision wins in UFC history (14)
      • Most decision bouts in UFC Middleweight division history (19)
      • Most unanimous decision wins in UFC Middleweight division history (11)
      • Tied (Rafael dos Anjos, & ) for second most unanimous decision wins in UFC history (11)
      • Tied () for most split decision wins in UFC Middleweight division history (3)
    • Fifth most significant strikes landed in UFC Middleweight division history (1153)
      • Fifth most total strikes landed in UFC Middleweight division history (1420)
    • Fifth highest decision wins per win percentage in UFC history (14 decision wins / 16 overall wins: 87.5%)


Mixed martial arts record
|- |Loss |align=center|21–11 |Robert Bryczek |TKO (punches) | | |align=center|3 |align=center|1:43 |, France | |- |Win |align=center|21–10 |Gerald Meerschaert |Decision (unanimous) | | |align=center|3 |align=center|5:00 |Las Vegas, Nevada, United States | |- |Loss |align=center|20–10 |Park Jun-yong |Decision (split) | | |align=center|3 |align=center|5:00 |Las Vegas, Nevada, United States | |- |Loss |align=center|20–9 |Gregory Rodrigues |TKO (punches) | | |align=center|3 |align=center|0:55 |Las Vegas, Nevada, United States | |- |Win |align=center|20–8 | |Decision (unanimous) |UFC 292 | |align=center|3 |align=center|5:00 |Boston, Massachusetts, United States | |- |Loss |align=center|19–8 |Bruno Silva |TKO (knee and punch) | | |align=center|1 |align=center|3:35 |Las Vegas, Nevada, United States | |- |Loss |align=center|19–7 |Dricus du Plessis |Decision (unanimous) |UFC 276 | |align=center|3 |align=center|5:00 |Las Vegas, Nevada, United States | |- |Win |align=center|19–6 | |Decision (split) |UFC 264 | |align=center|3 |align=center|5:00 |Las Vegas, Nevada, United States | |- |Win |align=center|18–6 |Antônio Carlos Júnior |Decision (unanimous) |UFC 257 | |align=center|3 |align=center|5:00 |, United Arab Emirates | |- |Loss |align=center|17–6 | |KO (head kick) |UFC 244 | |align=center|1 |align=center|2:27 |New York City, New York, United States | |- |Loss |align=center|17–5 | |Decision (unanimous) | | |align=center|5 |align=center|5:00 |Las Vegas, Nevada, United States | |- |Win |align=center|17–4 | |TKO (punches) | | |align=center|3 |align=center|2:16 |Glendale, Arizona, United States | |- |Win |align=center|16–4 | |Decision (unanimous) |UFC 216 | |align=center|3 |align=center|5:00 |Las Vegas, Nevada, United States | |- |Win |align=center|15–4 | |Decision (unanimous) | | |align=center|3 |align=center|5:00 |Las Vegas, Nevada, United States | |- |Win |align=center|14–4 |Caio Magalhães |Decision (split) |UFC 203 | |align=center|3 |align=center|5:00 |Cleveland, Ohio, United States | |- |Loss |align=center| 13–4 |Robert Whittaker |KO (punches) | | |align=center|1 |align=center|0:44 |, Australia | |- |Win |align=center|13–3 | |Decision (unanimous) |UFC 182 | |align=center|3 |align=center|5:00 |Las Vegas, Nevada, United States | |- |Loss |align=center|12–3 | |TKO (punches) | | |align=center|2 |align=center|3:18 |Bangor, Maine, United States | |- |Loss |align=center|12–2 | |Decision (unanimous) | | |align=center|3 |align=center|5:00 |Orlando, Florida, United States | |- |Win |align=center|12–1 | |Decision (unanimous) | | |align=center|3 |align=center|5:00 |Duluth, Georgia, United States | |- |Win |align=center|11–1 | |Decision (unanimous) | | |align=center| 3 |align=center| 5:00 |Indianapolis, Indiana, United States | |- |Win |align=center|10–1 | |Decision (unanimous) | | |align=center| 3 |align=center| 5:00 |Saitama, Japan | |- |Win |align=center|9–1 |Tom Watson |Decision (split) | | |align=center| 3 |align=center| 5:00 |, England | |- |Win |align=center|8–1 | |Decision (unanimous) | | |align=center| 3 |align=center| 5:00 |Fairfax, Virginia, United States | |- |Loss |align=center|7–1 |Aaron Simpson |Decision (unanimous) |UFC 132 | |align=center| 3 |align=center| 5:00 |Las Vegas, , United States | |- |Win |align=center|7–0 | |KO (knees and punches) |UFC 125 | |align=center|1 |align=center|4:20 |Las Vegas, , United States | |- |Win |align=center|6–0 | |Decision (unanimous) | | |align=center|3 |align=center|5:00 |Las Vegas, , United States | |- |Win |align=center|5–0 |Jonathan João |TKO (punches) |X-1: Temple of Boom 4 | |align=center|1 |align=center|N/A |Honolulu, Hawaii, United States | |- |Win |align=center|4–0 |Joshua Ferreira |Submission (rear-naked choke) |X-1: Temple of Boom 1 | |align=center|2 |align=center|2:28 |Honolulu, Hawaii, United States | |- |Win |align=center|3–0 |Devin Kauwe |TKO (punches) |Icon Sport: Hard Times | |align=center|1 |align=center|1:52 |Honolulu, Hawaii, United States | |- |Win |align=center|2–0 |John Ferrel |Submission (rear-naked choke) |Niko Vitale Promotions: Local Pride | |align=center|1 |align=center|0:18 |Honolulu, Hawaii, United States | |- |Win |align=center|1–0 |Thomas Sedano |TKO (punches) |MMA Contenders Conflict: The Beginning | |align=center|1 |align=center|0:40 |Honolulu, Hawaii, United States |


Mixed martial arts exhibition record
|Loss |align=center|3–1 | |Submission (rear-naked choke) |rowspan=4| | |align=center|3 |align=center|4:48 |rowspan=4|Las Vegas, Nevada, United States | |- |Win |align=center|3–0 | |DQ (illegal knee) | |align=center|1 |align=center|5:00 | |- |Win |align=center|2–0 |James Hammortree |Decision (unanimous) | |align=center|3 |align=center|5:00 | |- |Win |align=center|1–0 |Jordan Smith |KO (knee) | |align=center|1 |align=center|0:45 |


See also
  • List of current UFC fighters
  • List of male mixed martial artists


External links
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