Thiago tavares He already has his next commitment scheduled at the UFC. The Brazilian will face Michihiro Omigawa, on January 23, at UFC Fight Night.
“I think I'm a good opponent”, he analyzed, “I think the Ultimate guys are trying to raise my name again, because I'm coming off a defeat, that's why they didn't give me a top opponent, without belittling him. He is a good athlete, he has competed in the Olympics and major MMA events. He's an average fighter, not a top fighter, but I'm preparing to fight him as if it were for a title fight. Every fight for me is the most important in my life.”
In Rio de Janeiro, Thiago is honing his boxing and physical skills, and warns that he will not be intimidated by his opponent's takedowns.
“I'm focusing on physical preparation with Rogério Camões and training Boxing with Kelson Pinto”, he said, “I'm just doing that, I took a break from Jiu-Jitsu a few weeks ago, I'll stay like that for another week, then I'll be back. for my normal training, with Wrestling and Jiu-Jitsu. Omigawa is a great judoka, I'm going there to exchange judo with him too. I'm not a great judoka, but I do my uchi-mata around. I’m training a lot, getting more and more confident in my boxing.”
The Jiu-Jitsu black belt continues his tough training routine, but confesses that he still hasn't fully digested his defeat to Tyson Griffin at UFC 76.
“If you knew what I went through and have been going through because of this fight…”, he said, “In addition to thinking I won, I think I was harmed. He may have won, but the way they gave it to him... There was a referee who gave it 30-27, the guy had very bad intentions. I'm trying to leave this as water under the bridge, but I'll get around it. I'm trying to look at this defeat not as if I took a step back, but just as if I didn't take a step forward. I'm going to beat Omigawa on January 12th and I hope to fight again in April, because by the end of the year I hope to be at the top again. This defeat will still give me many victories, I can promise that.”
Despite the defeat, Tavares received a cash bonus for fighting the fight that was chosen as the best of the night. But the financial compensation did not change his personal satisfaction with combat.
“This prize is comforting in terms of the financial aspect, because my scholarship is a value and doubles it when I win”, he explained, “So with the defeat I won a lot less, but with this prize I ended up winning a considerable bonus. This makes me feel more at ease so I can train and invest in my training. But my personal satisfaction hasn’t changed at all, because the result doesn’t change, it will be the same.”
The nights of sleep lost after the defeat will only be rewarded when the Brazilian gets a rematch. Thiago also spoke about what it was like to suffer the first defeat of his career.
“I hope to have a rematch with him in the middle of next year, I want to fight him again. I want my rematch, I need it, and I won't rest until I fight him again", he warned, "As for invincibility, I never thought I would be undefeated forever, and I always thought that the day I lost, that at least unless I presented myself well, came out fighting, giving my best. I made a lot of mistakes in this fight, I lost a lot of position, but I gave my best.”
While training and preparing his return to the octagon, Thiago tavares welcomes the confrontation between B.J. Penn and Joe Stevenson for the interim UFC lightweight title. His bet, according to himself, is different from the majority of the public.
“Unlike a lot of people, I'm betting my chips on Joe Stevenson,” he said, “I think he wins the B.J. Penn for the pressure it will impose. He is a very strong guy, very well prepared and aware of his qualities. He has great physical conditioning and is much stronger than BJ. As this will be a five-round fight, I don't think it will work. B.J. Penn, because either he wins in the first two rounds, or else the fight will start to go downhill.”
Comments