If MMA bouts were decided purely on athletic credentials, Brad Tavares would be in for a long night on his back against Olympic silver medalist Yoel Romero at Saturday’s UFC on FOX 11 event. In reality, though, past accomplishments don’t always mean a lot when the octagon door closes and it all comes down to execution. So as Tavares (12-1 MMA, 6-1 UFC) prepares for his network-televised main-card showdown with Romero (7-1 MMA, 3-0 UFC) at Orlando’s Amway Center, he isn’t worrying so much about his opponent’s wrestling credentials, but more on how he’ll attempt to piece together that wrestling with the rest of his offense. “MMA wrestling is a totally different thing, and he’s one of those guys who maybe hasn’t catered it to MMA yet,” Tavares told MMAjunkie. “He’s been having so much success with his hands and his striking that he’s kind of let his wrestling fall to the wayside.” While it’d be reasonable to think Romero would be the ultimate decider of whether or not a fight hits the ground, that hasn’t been the case during his UFC tenure
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UFC on FOX 11’s Brad Tavares focused more on Romero’s striking, less on wrestling – MMA Junkie