LAS VEGAS – Brad Tavares has had a tough time keeping healthy in recent years, and unfortunately, that trend has continued into 2020.
Tavares (17-6 MMA, 12-6 UFC), who has been a mainstay of the UFC middleweight division for nearly a decade, has managed to get in the octagon just twice in the past two years.
The last time wasn’t a pleasant experience, either. Tavares suffered a first-round knockout loss to Edmen Shahbazyan at UFC 244 in November, then not long after suffered a serious knee injury. Now, Tavares is going through a familiar process: Rehabilitation.
“Unfortunately a couple months back I tore my ACL,” Tavares told MMA Junkie at the recent Dominance MMA media event in Las Vegas. “I just had a reconstructive surgery, so I’m going to be down again for some months here, but I got a great team over at the UFC PI, a great team behind me with Ali (Abdelaziz) and all my guys.”
Tavares said the timeline doctors have given him would mean being sidelined for the majority, if not the entirety, of the year. However, Tavares said he thinks he can accelerate the timeline and fight sooner than expected.
“I’m hoping – they say six-to-nine months – I’m hoping I can do it in four,” Tavares said. “But I’m going to be smart about it. I’m hungry and I’m pushing through this recovery and I can’t wait to get back in there.”
At 32, it could be argued that injuries are tearing away the prime years of Tavares’ career. He doesn’t see it that way, though, because he now plans on fighting for much longer than he originally intended when he got into the sport. He just needs to get healthy enough to do it.
“I always told myself, in the beginning when I started this, I was like, ‘Hey, I’m going to be out of it when I’m like 35,'” Tavares said. “As I’m approaching 35, I’m 32 now, and when I look at it that’s three years, the last three years have flown by. I’m still eager to learn. I feel like I still am learning, so as long as I’m waking up every day with this fire to go out there and keep doing this, I’m going to keep doing it as long as my body can do it. Injury aside, I feel great. I’m here to stay.”
