Fresh off his big second-round technical knockout (TKO) win over Chidi Njokuani at UFC Vegas 60 (see it again here), Gregory Rodrigues has been booked to face off against Brad Tavares at the upcoming UFC 283 pay-per-view (PPV) event on Jan. 14, 2023 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, per MMA Fighting.
Winner of two straight, both via knockout, Rodrigues is looking to improve to 5-1 inside the Octagon and hopefully land a spot in the Top 15. Having won six of his last seven fights dating back to his reign as the Legacy Fighting Alliance (LFA) Middleweight king, “Robocop” can accomplish his goal by taking out Tavares, who currently holds the No. 14 spot.
As for Tavares, he will be trying to bounce back from his recent loss to Dricus du Plessis at UFC 276 earlier this year which snapped his two-fight win streak and halted his progression into the Top 10 for the first time in his career.
The hard-hitting Hawaiin is just 2-3 in his last five appearances inside the world-famous Octagon, which includes losses to once-promising prospect, Edmen Shahbazyan, and current 185-pound champion, Israel Adesanya.
There is currently no main event set for the first UFC PPV card of the year, but Jose Aldo was interested in fighting for the last time at this event before he ultimately opted to call it a career a few weeks ago. Though not yet official, the current front-runner to spearhead the card is a fourth title fight between current Flyweight champion, Deiveson Figueiredo, and interim title holder, Brandon Moreno