From this UFC.com article about the January Fight Night:
Brazil's Thiago Tavares is one of the lightweight division's brightest young stars. A punishing ground fighter, Tavares' two fight UFC win streak was snapped in September when he lost a close decision to fellow prospect Tyson Griffin, and he is eager to get back in the win column against PRIDE veteran Omigawa, who made a good impression on UFC fans with a gallant effort in defeat against Matt Wiman in his Octagon debut in September.
Apparently the Tavares/Omigawa fight will be broadcast along with the Mike Swick/Josh Burkman headliner and the Drew McFedries and Patrick Cote (slugfest anyone?). To me the fact that Tavares will be getting airtime -- note that Thiago Alves is always fighting in the prelims -- is interesting. Zuffa really seems to think Tavares is marketable and now they're feeding him the undersized Michihiro "Gallant Effort" Omigawa to build him for the fans.
I'm glad they're doing this. Tavares' destruction of the very tough Jason Black was awesome and IMO he should've gotten the nod over Tyson "the Judges Are My Friends" Griffin.
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