According to UFC President Dana White, Brad Tavares will meet Yoel Romero at UFC on Fox 11 April 19 in a matchup with serious top-10 implications for each fighter.
White tweeted:
Tavares, the No. 13 middleweight according to the official UFC rankings, is riding a five-fight winning streak, while Romero, who is ranked No. 14, has won his past three.
While the two fighters are a combined 8-0 during these runs, the nature of their victories is quite dissimilar.
Tavares earned all five of his wins during this streak via decision, while Romero has earned three straight knockouts, each in highlight-reel, devastating fashion.
That said, Tavares boasts the better name value in his wins, as he has defeated Tom Watson, Riki Fukuda and former Strikeforce middleweight title challenger Lorenz Larkin.
On the other hand, Romero’s best win came over Derek Brunson at UFC Fight Night 35. Despite his potential and upside, Brunson has not yet proven himself a top-15 UFC middleweight in his career.
Adding another layer of depth to this fight is the fact that Romero—despite stringing together a trio of knockouts—has looked wholly human inside the Octagon.
Ronny Markes took him down twice and won the grappling portion of the fight, while Brunson scored three takedowns to Romero’s zero and looked to be on the verge of winning a decision before Romero’s impressive knockout in Round 3.
The winner of this fight will find himself in the thick of the UFC’s 185-pound division, taking on names like Costas Philippou, Tim Boetsch, Luke Rockhold and Mark Munoz in an attempt to seize gold.
Will Tavares outwork “The Solider of God” for another decision victory? Or will Romero blitz him and put him away as he has done to each of his UFC opponents to this point?
Leave a comment, and we’ll discuss. For what it’s worth, I think Tavares wears Romero down with kicks and jabs and wins a lackluster decision.
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