UFC fighter, Thiago tavares, participated last Friday (30) in a chat with internet users from SUPER FIGHTS. The fighter answered all the questions asked by members of our Forum and revealed that he is ready to fight as soon as he is called by Ultimate, but asks for a rematch with Matt wiman and Tyson Griffin. The full chat can be seen below.
QUESTION: Visiting the American Top Team website I came across your profile as an athlete at the academy. I would like to know what the link is with the team? (question from: Azevedo)
THIAGO TAVARES: I was at ATT in 2003, right when the team was founded. In December of that year I returned to Brazil just to spend Christmas and I couldn't get a visa to return to America. Soon, I fought in Brazil and Europe, until the UFC took away my visa. Today I'm not part of ATT, but I always train there due to my great and good friends, along with my manager (Alex Davis), I have a partnership with the owner of ATT (Dan Lambert).
QUESTION: So who do you train with today? (Question from: Hwa Rang-Do)
THIAGO TAVARES: I'm currently in Florianópolis, where I train at the Attack Duplo gym. My training partners are: Ivan “Batman”, Nazareno Malegarie, Ricardo Tirloni, Rafael Mello, William Coelho, Santiago Ponzinibbio and Edmilson Souza. But due to my good relationship with some gyms, it makes exchange easier, for example, today I'm here in Portland, training at Team Quest.
QUESTION: Thiago, you arrived at the UFC undefeated and lost that very tough fight against Tyson Griffin. At the time you said you won. Do you still believe today that you defeated the American? Since then, what has changed in your game? (Question from Burn Ko)
THIAGO TAVARES: Honestly, that fight was very even. The truth is, whoever gave the victory would be fair. My claim is precisely the lack of discretion on the part of the referees. Each fight they adopt different criteria. For example: I took four falls and he gave me two. I tried to finish four times and none. I came close to the knockout with an aerial knee and he didn't get one. What did he do? He dominated from the octagon and hit me in the eye while I was stretching his arm, which snapped millions of times.
QUESTION: In your last two fights, you faced problems with injuries, even though one of them was to your opponent. We know that this disrupts the life of a high-performance athlete. I wanted to know how long it would take you to be ready for the next fight, or if they called you today, would you already fight in the next event? (Question from Azevedo)
THIAGO TAVARES: I'm ready my friend! I already accepted a fight two weeks before, obviously it's not the right thing to do, but now I'm on 'stand by', any fighter who gets injured at lightweight will put me on. I can fight at any time.
QUESTION: And this controversy with Willamy Chiquerim? How did you see his injury problem? And if you could choose another opponent, who would it be? (Question from Trajan)
THIAGO TAVARES: Honestly, I have no problem with Chiquerim. I was upset because two weeks ago people from Brazil called me saying there was a rumor that he wasn't going to fight, that is, he must have already been injured and didn't report it to the event. As a result, I was unable to do my job. Every time I got hurt, I notified the UFC right away.
QUESTION: I would like to know what your game plan would be in the possible fight against Chiquerim and who you think would be a good fight to bring you back to the top of the category. (question from Diogo Natharde)
THIAGO TAVARES: Against Chiquerim my strategy would be boxing. It was a fight to put me at the top of the category, certainly, to put myself against one of the top 10, at least one Clay guida. But honestly, I have some things inside me that need to be resolved, for example, the defeat against the Matt wiman, an easy fight, he was weak and I started to play around in the fight, I lost focus, and fell dead. The big problem with belittling people, up there everyone is equal, has two hands, and is qualified to do so. Obviously I would love a chance against the top guys, but I still have things to be resolved, this and two others.
QUESTION: Thiago, you said you are training at Team Quest. Who are your teachers and training partners? Except for Nova União, are there any good gyms that have good light athletes for training in Brazil? (Question from Santiago)
THIAGO TAVARES: I'm training with several fighters, including Matt Lindland and Fabiano Pega Leve. My gym in Florianópolis is great for light weights: Batman, Malegarie, Ricardo Tirloni, among others.
QUESTION: I would like to know about your weight. How much do you normally weigh? How much can you recover between weigh-ins
and the moment of the fight? (Ugly question by: MOCM)
THIAGO TAVARES: My weight is normally 80 kilos. I dropped 10 kilos in the last week and gained eight kilos back in one day. I've never had any problems losing weight, nor recovering. You can see by watching my fights, I can even lose, 15 more minutes by speeding up. The person who does all my physical preparation, diet and rehydration is Guiga, my cousin and physical trainer.
QUESTION: In your last victory you beat Gamburyan, who should even compete for the WEC featherweight belt. Have you ever thought about moving down a category? Or do you feel very good among the lightweights? (Question asked by Santiago)
THIAGO TAVARES: I've already thought yes, because I can weigh 66 kilos, because I weigh 80 taking a lot of supplements and high calories...But first I would like to do a cat weight.
Who knows…
QUESTION: I reinforce another member's question: Have you already been offered to migrate your contract from the UFC to the WEC so you can fight at featherweight?
THIAGO TAVARES: No, to tell the truth. Not even my manager knows that I've ever thought about it. You know firsthand. But honestly, I don't want to leave the UFC. I raise the possibility of course, but it's not what I would like at the moment. Suddenly, if the UFCc created the featherweight category
QUESTION: You were training with Fabio Maldonado? Speaking of Maldonado, do you think we can see him in a big international event or maybe in the UFC? (Question asked by Vinnaum Mixed Martial Arts)
THIAGO TAVARES: Of course, in Brazil I train with Kevin, a Bahian who moved to Florianópolis to give me boxing lessons. He has 40 boxing fights, and a few MMA fights. Maldonado lives in Florianópolis and helps me too. He is currently here in the USA, doing boxing training for me.
Regarding Maldonado entering big events, we will soon have good news, I put my hand on the fire, that he will knock out a lot of people. I would bet my purse on that statement!
QUESTION: After a loss, did you feel like you might be fired from the UFC? Or were you always aware that despite the defeats your performances were good? (Question asked by Trajan)
THIAGO TAVARES: I lost two fights in a row (Kurt Pelegrino and Matt wiman) and when I fought Manny Gamburyan, I felt like I was on the ropes. My manager said it wasn't because, out of three losses, I got three bonuses for best fight of the night. So much so that after Manny beat me I renewed my contract… But I went in to fight Manny, feeling like I was on the ropes…
QUESTION: Thiago, do you think the scholarship you receive from the UFC is fair, beyond or below what you think you deserve? (question from Diogo Natharde)
THIAGO TAVARES: Obviously I would like to receive more, but I'm happy, they treat me well, I'm well paid and I'm even playing video games. When would a ‘manezinho’ from Florianópolis be in a video game? Last week I went into Best Buy (electronics store), and a guy recognized me and asked me to autograph his t-shirt and a game for him.
QUESTION: In your next fight, if you could choose, who would it be against? (Question asked by Trajan)
THIAGO TAVARES: Matt wiman or Tyson Griffin, please.
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