Brad Tavares
With the news that the headlining UFC 137 bout featuring Georges St-Pierre vs. Carlos Condit was being pulled due to the champ suffering a sprained knee, UFC officials were forced to reshuffle the Las Vegas card.
Stepping up onto the main card will be middleweights Brad Tavares (7-1) versus UFC newcomer Dustin Jacoby (6-0).
With BJ Penn vs. Nick Diaz taking the new main event slot as a no brainer, naming Tavares vs. Jacoby is a surprise to many with great fights like Dennis Siver vs. Donald Cerrone, Tyson Griffin vs. Bart Palaszewski, and the return of Brandon Vera to the UFC, all great options to bump up to the main card.
A closer look though, shows that UFC officials may be looking for a fight that promises to end quickly with either Tavares or Jacoby ending the fight on their back.
Tavares has finished six of his wins by knockout or submission, while Jacoby has finished all six of his wins by TKO or submission and only fighting into the second round once.
Tavares was part of Season eleven of “The Ultimate Fighter”, losing to Court McGee in the semi-finals. He debuted against housemate Seth Baczynski at the TUF 11 Finale, winning by unanimous decision. Since that time he’s gone on to defeat Phil Baroni by KO at UFC 125 and recently suffered his first loss, a decision defeat at the hands of Aaron Simpson at UFC 132.
Jacoby has fought five times in 2011, finishing every opponent. He scored four first round finishes, four TKO wins in total in that run, and one submission victory. The Illinois fighter certainly brings some explosive power into the Octagon and fans can expect a short fight on Oct. 29.