Brad Tavares

“With a guy like Yoel, he's very tough.”

“Losing is a bad feeling. I've never been on an undefeated team throughout high school, so I tasted defeat before. I've been taught to handle it graciously.”

“I look at guys with these huge records, 60-plus fights, and think to myself, 'There's no way they could have done this in the UFC, and there's no way their record would be as good.' You look at a lot of these guys' records and a lot of their wins are against guys with a lot of losses.”

“Every camp, I'm still learning more.”

“I always thought fighting was fun, so I joined a gym and took it serious. I never actually thought I would be a real fighter, though. But I began to excel on the local circuit and I did well for myself.”

“Look at the guys at the the top of the sport, a lot of them are early 30s and that's when they really hit their peak. I think that's where it really comes together, when athleticism meets experience and knowledge.”

“I liked the sport of martial arts because I loved anything that involved contact, conflict or collision. But as a young kid, I wasn't able to box, do karate or anything like that. I stuck to your traditional team sports in football and baseball.”

“I'm really lucky to have training partners that are willing to change up their own style to benefit me.”

“I have nothing but respect for Wanderlei.”

“Some people fold under pressure.”

“I'm an all around fighter, and I'll take the fight where it needs to go.”

“Everybody knows I wanted to fight Michael Bisping. A win over someone like that would have really done a lot for my career.”

“If I keep winning, then I can't see myself not fighting for the title.”

“A lot of guys don't like to get hit, and I'm not going to be one of those guys who say they like to get hit because I don't.”

“Fighters have to win and do it in impressive fashion to get noticed.”

“I like Larkin's style since he tries to mix it up. He tries to get creative.”

“I've said it before, but Hawaiian fighters have a different type of toughness, and it's because of how we come up. It's not like bullying or anything like that, but we are raised to handle problems when they come up.”

“Previously in my career, I went on a streak where I fought everybody in their hometown.”

“One of the biggest moments was when I fought Phil Baroni. That was phenomenal to me. I watched him fight growing up and then I beat him.”

“I've spent the majority of my career fighting the best in the world.”