Brad Tavares has joined the UFC 244 card, where he’ll face the undefeated Edmen Shahbazyan.
A little game of musical fight cards has seen middleweight Brad Tavares move from UFC Singapore to UFC 244 a week later. Per a report from MMA Junkie, Ian Heinisch was forced out of the bout with Tavares. No reason was given for Heinisch’s withdrawal. As a result, Tavares will now face Edmen Shahbazyan at the New York event next month.
Tavares (17–5) has been out of action since a July 2018 scrap against now-interim champ Israel Adesanya. A broken arm suffered in the contest resulted in surgery, and a lengthy recovery period. Prior to that defeat, Tavares had won four straight, including bouts against Elias Theodorou and Thales Leites.
With the UFC since 2010, Hawaii’s Tavares has compiled a 12-5 record in the promotion. He’ll be replacing Krzysztof Jotko at UFC 244.
Shahbazyan (10-0) is coming off his third straight UFC victory, after finishing Jack Marshman via rear-naked choke at UFC 239. The 21-year old, fighting out of Glendale Fighting Club under Edmond Tarverdyan (head coach of none other than Ronda Rousey) won his way into the UFC on the Contender Series last year.
UFC 244 takes place November 2, 2019 at New York City’s famed Madison Square Garden. Nate Diaz and Jorge Masvidal headline the card.
