Tavares set to step up as UFC contender

Las Vegan Brad Tavares left the cage after his fight with Aaron Simpson in July 2011 frustrated and disappointed because he had suffered the first loss of his professional mixed martial arts career.

It was a feeling Tavares knew he didn’t want to experience again.

“Nobody wants to lose. It leaves such a bitter taste,” Tavares said. “But almost nobody stays undefeated in this sport. It’s all how you bounce back from it. I’ve seen guys lose and just spiral downward to the point they can’t recover mentally. I never wanted to be one of those people.”

After watching the fight and analyzing what went wrong, Tavares has reeled off four straight wins.

He will look to extend the streak tonight when he fights Lorenz Larkin in a middleweight bout on the UFC Fight Night 35 card in Duluth, Ga.

Tavares doesn’t expect to run into the same issues with Larkin that plagued him in the unanimous decision loss to Simpson, during which the former college wrestler constantly hunted for takedowns and grinded the fight to a halt by holding Tavares against the cage for long stretches.

For one, Tavares learned his lesson. But more important, Larkin is a dynamic striker who probably wants to keep the fight standing just as much as Tavares.

Still, Tavares always is aware of the blueprint Simpson laid out.

“Try to cut me off and take me down or at least keep my back against the cage,” Tavares said. “I really worked on that. I’m glad I have that fight. It sucks I lost, but it was an eye opener for me. In my head, this guy tried to take me down and I defended it, so I’m winning. But in a fight, in the judges’ eyes, he’s still controlling where the fight is taking place. I had to get out of that mindset. I can’t just sit there. Even though I’m defending takedowns and not taking damage, on the scorecards I’m still losing.”

Tavares, 26, credits his ability to analyze and deal with a loss to playing other sports growing up in Hawaii. He started his career there at 19 years old but soon realized he would need to expand his horizons. Tavares won his first five fights on the islands as he trained while working at Hawaiian Airlines.

Fortunately for him, the company also had a large presence in Las Vegas, where the best training in the world was available at the time.

So he put in for a transfer and received it a few weeks later. Tavares found himself chosen to compete on Season 11 of “The Ultimate Fighter” soon after. He lost in the semifinals, but the reality show helped officially launch his career as a full-time fighter.

While he’s cautious in his assessment of his place in the Ultimate Fighting Championship middleweight division, Tavares is ambitious about where he’s headed.

“I feel like I’m still growing,” he said. “I’ve been doing this for seven years, but I learn more in every camp. I still love the sport, and I feel like there’s so much more for me to learn. Right now I’m in the middle of the pack, but I feel like I can compete with anyone in the division. I feel like I belong in the top 10 in this division.

“I truly believe in myself. It’s not cockiness or arrogance; I just believe it. As soon as I’m given the opportunity, I’ll show what I’ve been talking about.”

He will need a win over Larkin, a former top contender in Strikeforce who also has only one professional loss, to speed up that process.

A middleweight bout between Costas Philippou and former Strikeforce champion Luke Rockhold headlines the event. The card airs live at 4 p.m. on Fox Sports 1 (Cable 329), with the preliminary card airing live on the same network at 2.

Contact reporter Adam Hill at ahill@reviewjournal.com or 702-224-5509. Follow him on Twitter: @adamhilllvrj.