Hawaii’s Brad Tavares returns to the octagon for his second fight of 2024 this Saturday at UFC Vegas 98, after he was stopped at the hands of Gregory “Robocop” Rodrigues last time out.
That’s not for lack of effort. Tavares had a date booked with Jun Yong Park in July, only to see it fall through when Park wasn’t cleared to compete after weighing in. An August rebooking was offered, but for reasons unknown to Tavares, he explained during this week’s UFC Vegas 98 media day, the South Korean turned down that booking.
“It’s a fight I really liked, an opponent I really liked, so I wanted to keep the fight [together],” Tavares told reporters. “Obviously also I went through an entire fight camp preparing for this specific opponent, I don’t want that to go to waste.”
When the call from his manager came, however, no quick turnaround would be had. Tavares kept the opponent, but the new date was much further away than hoped.
“Dude, now we’re going to go through a full camp again?” was Tavares’ immediate reaction. “I didn’t understand it, but it is what it is. I guess God’s plan. Here we are now, October 12.”
When it comes to Park, who apologized for the delay, “I have no issues with him, everything happened the way it happened, and we’re here now,” added Tavares. “But I was frustrated with it. I was pretty irritated. It ruined some things planning-wise that I had planned for right have.” That included traveling to see family, and attending a wedding, “but obviously I had to get to camp. So that put a dent in things there.”
When Tavares learned from the media that Park claimed he did not have staph, as was reported in conjunction with the original date’s cancellation, but rather it was “just a scratch,” Tavares was incredulous. “Even worse, if it was just a scratch, why couldn’t we fight August 10? But whatever.”
Now that the fight is back on track, Tavares isn’t expecting anything different from what he originally envisioned. “It’s the same guy, same weight, same place, same everything. Just the date is different. I see it [as], nothing has changed for me.”
As to whether he’s worried it might fall through again, “definitely,” he admitted. “I don’t think it will, but it’s in the back of my mind.” Tavares added that he had a thought ahead of the original July date that it might fall through. “Just that little thought in my head, and then boom, get here couple hours later, and fight’s off. I’m like, ‘why did I have to think that?!'”
Watch the full UFC Vegas 98 media day appearance by Brad Tavares above.
