Brad Tavares was watching a UFC promotional video game some months ago when something jumped out at him: Elias Theodorou outranked him.
Tavares set out to right the perceived wrong, and he proved his rank in real life Friday night, earning a victory via a narrow unanimous decision in a middleweight bout at The Ultimate Fighter Finale in Las Vegas.
“I’m stoked,” Tavares said. “That guy is tough. That guy is tough.”
The 2005 Waiakea graduate didn’t have much to say minutes after the bout, letting his fighting do the talking.
All three judges saw the fight for 29-28 for Tavares, who is now 15-5 after winning for the third time in four mixed martial arts contests.
According to statistics on UFC.com, Theodorou (15-4) landed three of 11 takedowns and outstruck Tavares 69-38. Theodorou most likely won the second round, but the judges obviously felt Tavares did enough in the first and third rounds.
“I wish I stuffed more of the takedowns,” Tavares said, ‘but ultimately I got the win.”
According to Sherdog.com – which scored the fight to Theodorou – Tavares scored points in the first round with a takedown, a straight left hand and two kicks before ending the round with a right hand to Theodorou.
Tavares took Theodorou’s back in the third round but was never to get a rear-naked choke. Late in the round, Tavares appeared to partially land a left leg kick to Theodorou’s head.
Add it all up, and Tavares stated his case to be ranked among the UFC’s top 15 middleweights.
Before he left the ring, Tavares, said, “I love Hawaii.”
In the post-fight news conference, he said: “Fighting in (Las) Vegas, my adopted hometown, means a little bit more and it means that my friends and family from Hawaii (can watch) and I get to represent for them. Elias was exactly what I thought he’d be, tough. He moved a lot. The one thing that did surprise me is that I’ve never seen him be that wrestling heavy, taking shots, but I was ready for it. The choke in the third wasn’t as close as I wanted it to be, but I think I had him worried. I’m healthy and I’m ready to go whenever the UFC wants.”
