Hawai‘i’s Brad Tavares returns to the Octagon this Saturday for a middleweight showdown against fellow veteran Gerald Meerschaert at UFC on ESPN 65 at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas.
Tavares (20-10 overall, 15-10 UFC) will make his 26th appearance in the UFC’s 185-pound division — an unprecedented mark for a middleweight.
The Waiākea High School graduate and Hilo native has been with the promotion for 15 years and holds multiple records in the weight class.
Tavares owns the longest total fight time in UFC middleweight history (5 hours, 22 minutes, 35 seconds) and leads the division with 13 decision victories. A win on Saturday would tie him with former champion Michael Bisping for second-most victories in the division (16).
Meerschaert (37-18, 12-10 UFC) enters the bout with an imposing résumé, having earned 35 of his 37 career wins by stoppage — including all 12 of his UFC victories. Tavares, meanwhile, is looking to regain momentum, having lost four of his last five bouts.
Despite recent results, the 37-year-old Tavares remains driven by the same motivation that led him into combat sports as a teenager in Hawai‘i.
“What has always driven me is competition,” Tavares said during his UFC press conference. “I literally grew up fighting — that’s part of the culture in Hawai‘i. We’d be somewhere, and there’d be another tough guy, and it was just mano a mano — ‘who’s tougher?’ That mindset is still there. In the gym, I’m still competing with my training partners to get better. And now, this weekend, it’s Gerald. I want to prove I’m the better, superior fighter. That’s what still drives me.”
Tavares vs. Meerschaert is currently scheduled as the third fight on the main card, which begins at 3 p.m. HST on ESPN.
The night will be headlined by a featherweight bout between Josh Emmett and Lerone Murphy.
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