Brad Tavares won’t have a chance to fight in his home state just yet, but for now the “Ninth Island” will do just fine.
Hilo’s Tavares will stay in his adopted hometown of Las Vegas for his next fight. A middleweight bout between the the 29-year-old and Brazilian Thales Leites was announced Tuesday as part of UFC 216, set for Oct. 7 at T-Mobile Arena.
Idle for more than 15 months just last year, Tavares (15-4, 5-2 UFC) has seen his mixed martial artist schedule and quality of competition pick up with two consecutive victories. The fight against 12th-ranked Leites (27-7 MMA, 12-6 UFC) marks the highest-ranked opponent for Tavares since he lost to Robert Whittaker, now ranked the No.