Israel Adesanya will return to the octagon in early July. Photo / Getty Images.
Israel Adesanya will return to the octagon in early July. Photo / Getty Images.
Israel Adesanya asked for a fight against Brad Tavares, and the UFC obliged.
Adesanya called out the Hawaiian in Arizona last month, and the Herald can confirm the undefeated Kiwi fighter will square off against the company's No.10-ranked middleweight in Las Vegas in July.
The bout will be the main event at the finale of the Ultimate Fighter competition on July 7 (NZ time) in what will be Adesanya's first five-round bout with the UFC.
"We got what we wanted," the 28-year-old said.
Adesanya debuted with the UFC earlier this year after developing an 11-0 professional MMA record, and has two wins from his first two bouts.
The bout against Tavares is a big one for the Nigerian-born Adesanya. Some fighters toil for years with the company before getting an opportunity at a main event against a ranked opponent.
Brad Tavares holds a 18-5-0 record in his professional MMA career. Photo / Getty Images
However, when he joined the UFC, Adesanya had built a name for himself and had planned to climb toward the top quickly. All going to plan, he'd be in the conversation for a title fight in 2019.
"Things are moving fast, and I don't have time to mess around. So I'll get in there, do my thing and get out.
"When we came to the UFC, we took our time. We didn't just jump in when everyone else was saying 'go to the UFC'.
"We took our time to develop our game so we could fight the best in the world on any given night."
Tavares fell into that category. Since joining the UFC in 2010, he had a 12-4-0 record and would come into the bout on a four-fight winning streak.
Both fighters were on the card at UFC Fight Night in Arizona last month. Tavares won by knockout in the third round, while Adesanya won by split decision. It was a rare knockout win for Tavares – just his second in the UFC – while Adesanya was taken the distance for the first time in his career.
Brad Tavares (L) beat Poland's Krzysztof Jotko by knockout at UFC Fight Night in Arizona. Photo / Getty Images
However, with a five-round bout against Tavares up next, going the distance wasn't a bad thing for the Kiwi. Tavares had faced a decision 12 times in his career - all in three-round bouts.
"In hindsight, I'm glad that happened so I realised I could go five rounds easily...and it looks like the day has come. I don't think it's going to last five rounds, though."
The bout will take place a night before the UFC's heavyweight title fight between Stipe Miocic and Daniel Cormier, with the event boasting a stacked fight card that would draw a lot of attention.
There's going to be a lot of eyes on the UFC that weekend, and that's what you try and do – get people to look at you."
To get the day's top sports stories in your inbox, sign up to our newsletter here
