TUF 27 Finale results: Israel Adesanya styles on Brad Tavares in one-sided decision

The UFC’s TUF 27 Finale event is in the books, and the top of the billing saw Israel Adesanya completely style on the promotion’s #8 ranked middleweight, Brad Tavares, for the majority of 25 minutes to earn a unanimous decision. Adesanya hurt his opponent multiple times throughout the fight, damaging different parts of the body, and doing it with an assortment of strikes. Tavares landed a few punches here and there, and even scored an early takedown, but Tavares botched a lot of takedowns and was forced to deal with the clever striking attack of Adesanya. In the final round, Adesanya even worked on his ground game a bit, even locking up a mounted guillotine as the final horn sounded.

Main Event:

Israel Adesanya def. Brad Tavares by unanimous decision (50-45 x2, 49-46) : Middleweight

Tavares went right after his opponent, throwing power punches into the clinch, and then striking on the break. Adesanya started to get crafty, using all sorts of misdirection to create openings for his strikes. Tavares attempted to take the fight to the ground, but Adesanya defended well and then pointed at the center of the Octagon. Adesanya hit an Imanari Roll in the final ten seconds, but Tavares was having none of it.

Adesanya came out sharp in the second round, landing a variety strikes while staying just outside of the punching range of Tavares. A big head kick landed clean for Adesanya, but Tavares took it like a boss. The referee stopped the action to warn Adesanya about his fingers in the eyes of his opponent. When the action resumed, Adesanya buckled Tavares with a sinister body kick, which may have been the most significant strike of the fight.

Tavares blasted a left hook to open the third round, resulting in Adesanya getting his flow going. A really hard knee connected to the gut of Tavares, causing him to show anger and urge Adesanya on. Adesanya obliged him and started to up his output, continuously shifting what part of the body he attacked. Adesanya hurt Tavares with a right hand in the final 30 seconds, but couldn’t finish the job before the round ended.

Tavares was able to pin his opponent up against the cage to find an early takedown. Adesanya scrambled up to his feet and defended a takedown with a nasty Kimora attempt, but Tavares was bleeding when he came back up. The ref brought in the doc to take a look at Tavares, but deemed him fit to continue on. Tavares again tried to get the fight to the floor, but Adesanya refused to entertain that idea, and continued to feast away on the feet.

Tavares answered the final bell with a major gash above his eye, and Adesanya continued to style. Adesanya elected to work on some of his ground game after a botched takedown attempt from Tavares, but decided to get right back up as soon as Tavares rolled for a knee. Adesanya completely outclassed Tavares.

Bloody Elbow:

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