Brad Tavares wants JunYong Park to trade leather in rebooked UFC fight

LAS VEGAS – Three months ago, Brad Tavares was ready to throw leather with Junyong Park. Then he got off the scale and picked up his phone.

As Tavares recalled Wednesday, his manager called not long after he made weight for a July 20 middleweight bout with Park. The commission did not release Park because of a staphylococcal infection. And while that seems coincidental and forgivable, Tavares might be a little upset that he and Park are just now in the middle of falling out over their rebooking.

And that, says Tavares (20-9 MMA, 15-9 UFC), is because of Park (17-6 MMA, 7-3 UFC) because he was not defeated in a rebooking that was originally offered on August 10th.

“Of course I wanted to continue the fight,” Tavares said on media day at UFC Fight Night 244, the new home of their fight, which will be the co-main event at UFC Apex. “I did a whole training camp to prepare for this particular opponent. I don't want this to go to waste. … Now we are experiencing a full camp again. I didn't understand it (Park doesn't agree with August), but I guess it is what it is – God's plan.

“…But obviously I was frustrated by it. I was pretty irritated by it.”

Tavares suspected there was something else going on in Park's life that would have made the first rebooking offered a nuisance. But no matter the reason, anger or annoyance likely won't help the longtime Hawaiian fighter on Saturday.

At the betting window, Park is the favorite at about 2-1. He had a four-fight winning streak, including three straight rear-naked choke finishes, that was broken by a split-call loss to Andre Muniz last December.

“He’s very versatile and has mastered MMA,” Tavares said. “I don't think he's a specialist or an expert anywhere, and obviously he doesn't have the accolades in kickboxing or boxing, wrestling or even jiu-jitsu. But he put them all together well. He is a very complete MMA fighter.

“I think his biggest attribute is his toughness, how tough he is. I've watched him in fights where you think, 'Okay, this guy is done,' and he pulls it out – very similar to (middleweight champion) Dricus (Du Plessis). But I don’t think he’s nearly as dangerous as Dricus.”

At the end of the day, though, Park could perhaps be forgiven for the whole Tavares rescheduling thing if he agreed to a standup fight in the co-feature. However, Tavares fears that Park wants to go to the big screen.

“I would hope so (he wants to trade punches), but honestly I think he wants to go to the ground where he feels he has his biggest advantage,” he said. “But if it ends up being a kickboxing (fight), I’ll keep it up all day.”

For more information on the card, check out MMA Junkie's UFC Fight Night 244 event hub.