Tavares interview: Hawaiian wants to show Simpson all he?s learned from living in Sin City

Brad Tavares caught some bad breaks during Season 11 of "The Ultimate Fighter," but his luck is turning.

In his first "name" UFC fight, he got Phil Baroni, who was on his last legs. Tavares blasted out Baroni in the first round and got premium exposure on ION. Then less than a month ago, the promotion called him with an opportunity to fight another middleweight veteran in Aaron Simpson. Simpson's original opponent, Jason Miller was moved into a coaching on TUF and the 23-year-old Tavares jumped at the opportunity to replace him at UFC 132.

"I know that he possesses that real high pedigree in wrestling," Tavares said of Simpson, who first wrestled for Arizona State and then served as a coach for the Wildcats. "He trains with [Ryan] Bader and [C.B.] Dolloway, and all those other really good wrestlers. So that's something been working, takedown defense and sweeps, and getting back up, and keeping it on the feet."

Tavares' confidence is sky high. He made the decision a few years ago to leave his native Hawaii to train in Las Vegas, first with Shawn Tompkins and now with Xtreme Couture, where he works his striking with Ray Sefo and wrestling with Neil Melanson. He also drives a short way to work his jiu-jitsu game with Robert Drysdale.

"Hawaii's expensive. Everybody can't train twice a day, three times a day like you can out here," Tavares told RawVegas.tv while speaking in the bowels of Las Vegas' MGM Grand. "[Back in Hawaii] they need to work a full-time job and then after that they need to find the time to train."

When fighters do they train in Hawaii, they just can't find the same level of coaching and training partners present in a place like Las Vegas.

Tavares (7-0, 2-0 UFC) was going tit for tat with Court McGee during the TUF 11 semifinals when he was rocked and finished in the final 20 seconds of the fight. McGee went on to win the TUF 11 Finale and that six-figure contract. The Hawaiian would love a rematch with McGee, but first comes the 36-year-old Simpson (8-2, 4-2 UFC). The older Simpson is a minus-250 favorite.

You can watch UFC 132 right here on Yahoo! Sports

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Free clips for Chris Sharma ?King Lines? climbing video?

Interested in downloading high-quality clips of Chris Sharma climbing? Today I checked out the website for Chris Sharma’s King Lines movie - and there’s a new addition! Early versions of the DVD didn’t feature all of the extras properly, so the website features downloadable clips from the extras. This won’t replace the need to buy the DVD, but [...]

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UFC embraces Sonnen, looks like he?ll return in Texas against Stann

After all the commission drama, we know where the UFC stands on Chael Sonnen and licensing issues.

Heavy.com and MMAjunkie are reporting that Sonnen will face Brian Stann at UFC 136 in Houston. The wrestler vs. striker matchup will be the lead-in to what could be a mega-card.

His spot in California purgatory expired at the end of June. A few days later, he was featured in a video on UFC.com speaking about the Wanderlei Silva-Chris Leben fight and now it looks like the controversial Sonnen is due to return to the Octagon in October.

It's unclear if Sonnen will ever return to California to have his license re-instated. In the meantime there's always Texas, the new home for fighters banned by the Golden State. Antonio Margarito spurned California by landing the Manny Pacquiao fight in Dallas and MMA's Josh Barnett just did the same so by fighting Brett Rogers in Big D.

Two title matchups have been rumored for Oct. 8. If Gray Maynard can get cleared, his trilogy fight with UFC lightweight champ Frank Edgar could go down. Health is also a concern for Jose Aldo. If the 145-pound champ is over his back issues, Aldo may face Kenny Florian. The UFC is also planning a fan expo around the Oct. 8 card.

It'll be interesting to see how Sonnen handles the lead up to the fight. Could he possibly come up with an angle to trash the Iraq-war veteran Stann?

Do you like the matchup? The first comment on UFC.com's story trashed the fight.

Tim Daraitis- This fight makes no sense stylistically, for marketing, or to advance either to a better spot. Stylistically, Stann's wrestling defense isn't the best, and Chael will have an easy fight. For marketing, the UFC needs Sonnen to trash talk, which he shouldn't/can't do against American Hero Brian Stann. Both fighters won't advance because what does either beating the other prove? Odds makers will undoubtedly make this another -600 Chael to +400 Stann or something ridiculous, like they do with other bad matchups.

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UFC embraces Sonnen, looks like he?ll return in Texas against Stann

After all the commission drama, we know where the UFC stands on Chael Sonnen and licensing issues.

Heavy.com and MMAjunkie are reporting that Sonnen will face Brian Stann at UFC 136 in Houston. The wrestler vs. striker matchup will be the lead-in to what could be a mega-card.

His spot in California purgatory expired at the end of June. A few days later, he was featured in a video on UFC.com speaking about the Wanderlei Silva-Chris Leben fight and now it looks like the controversial Sonnen is due to return to the Octagon in October.

It's unclear if Sonnen will ever return to California to have his license re-instated. In the meantime there's always Texas, the new home for fighters banned by the Golden State. Antonio Margarito spurned California by landing the Manny Pacquiao fight in Dallas and MMA's Josh Barnett just did the same so by fighting Brett Rogers in Big D.

Two title matchups have been rumored for Oct. 8. If Gray Maynard can get cleared, his trilogy fight with UFC lightweight champ Frank Edgar could go down. Health is also a concern for Jose Aldo. If the 145-pound champ is over his back issues, Aldo may face Kenny Florian. The UFC is also planning a fan expo around the Oct. 8 card.

It'll be interesting to see how Sonnen handles the lead up to the fight. Could he possibly come up with an angle to trash the Iraq-war veteran Stann?

Do you like the matchup? The first comment on UFC.com's story trashed the fight.

Tim Daraitis- This fight makes no sense stylistically, for marketing, or to advance either to a better spot. Stylistically, Stann's wrestling defense isn't the best, and Chael will have an easy fight. For marketing, the UFC needs Sonnen to trash talk, which he shouldn't/can't do against American Hero Brian Stann. Both fighters won't advance because what does either beating the other prove? Odds makers will undoubtedly make this another -600 Chael to +400 Stann or something ridiculous, like they do with other bad matchups.

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In just 27 seconds, Leben takes out Silva at UFC 132

Chris Leben did not take his time in beating a fighter he said inspired him to fight. In just 27 seconds, Leben knocked out Wanderlei Silva at UFC 132 in Las Vegas on Saturday night.

Silva came out swinging, and landed a strike right on Leben's chin. Leben was not hurt, and with Silva in close, Leben landed a series of left-handed uppercuts until Silva fell to the ground.

Leben was pumped after the win.

"How do you think after that?" he said when asked how he felt by UFC commentator Joe Rogan. "He hit me on the button. He cracked me, and I went autopilot."

Before the fight, Leben talked about how he would watch tapes of Silva in his prime for PRIDE Fighting Championships. After the bout, he called Silva his hero, and thanked him for taking the bout, Silva's first in 16 months.

Silva, who has been fighting since 1996, now has a record of 33-11-1. Leben originally burst onto the MMA scene after the first season of "The Ultimate Fighter" and now has a record of 26-7.

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UFC 132 picks videos: Lots of betting steam on Cruz over Faber

Urijah Faber may think Dominick Cruz is a mental wreck and jealous of him, but the betting public isn't buy that the champ is in jeopardy tonight. The betting on the main event of UFC 132, has mostly one-sided. Cruz opened as a minus-140 favorite and has blown up to minus-175.

It looks like bettors are looking for value in some of the undercards fights. Heavy favorites George Sotiropoulos, Melvin Guillard and Denis Siver have all come down. Matt Wiman has attracted a lot of attention. His fight with Siver has moved 30 cents.

UFC 132 betting odds (Courtesy Venetian Casino, Hotel & Resort Las Vegas)

Urijah Faber (+135) vs. Dominick Cruz (-175) - UFC bantamweight title

Chris Leben (+150) vs. Wanderlei Silva (-180) - Middleweight

Tito Ortiz (+350) vs. Ryan Bader (-500) - Light heavyweight

Carlos Condit (-110) vs. Dong Hyun Kim (-120) - Welterweight

Matt Wiman (-105) vs. Denis Siver (-115) - Lightweight

Shane Roller (+225) vs. Melvin Guillard (-275) - Lightweight

Rafael dos Anjos (+185) vs. George Sotiropoulos (-225) - Lightweight

Takeyu Mizugaki (+270) vs. Brian Bowles (-330) - Bantamweight

Brad Tavares (+200) vs. Aaron Simpson (-250) - Middleweight

Andre Winner (Even) vs. Anthony Njokuani (-130) - Lightweight

Jeff Hougland +170 vs. Donny Walker (-200) - Bantamweight

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