Thiago Tavares’s recent battles inside the Octagon couldn’t be any better. However, the Brazilian featherweight failed to turn this success into votes.
Born in Santa Catarina, Tavares ran for a seat at the State’s Legislative Assembly. Affiliated with the Communist Party of Brazil (PCdoB), Tavares came up short on his first attempt in politics.
According to official numbers from the Superior Electoral Court (TSE), the highest body of the Brazilian electoral court, Tavares had 7,980 votes on Sunday’s elections, enough to be ranked at No. 103 among state legislators.
Gelson Merisio was the most voted for the Legislative Assembly of the State of Santa Catarina, with 119,280 votes. Salvaro, the least voted state legislator in the 2014 elections in the state to earn one of the 40 seats at the assembly, received 14,985 votes.
Inside the Octagon, Tavares (19-5-1) is 2-0 since cutting down to featherweight with first-round finishes over Justin Salas and Robbie Peralta. The UFC has yet to announce his next bout.
“I would like to thank the 7,980 people that showed that they are tired of the current politics and decided to give their votes for renovation and wanting change,” Tavares wrote on his Instagram. “I’m glad there is people like me who are tired of so much neglect, little or no support to social projects for our children and so much corruption in politics. Thank you for believing in my projects and my ideas.”