Nate Marquardt vs. Brad Tavares set for UFC 182

A middleweight bout featuring former Strikeforce champ Nate Marquardt taking on Brad Tavares is the latest addition to January’s UFC 182 event in Las Vegas.

UFC officials confirmed the booking yesterday evening.

Nate Marquardt (33-13-2 MMA, 11-6 UFC) returned to the middleweight division this past June, where he scored a “Performance of the night” submission win over James Te Huna at UFC Fight Night 43 in New Zealand. Prior to that, Marquardt had dropped 3 straight fights at 170-pounds, including back-to-back knockout losses to Jake Ellenberger and Hector Lombard.

Meanwhile, Hawaiian-native Brad Tavares (12-3 MMA, 7-3 UFC) will be looking to rebound out of 2-fight losing skid when he faces Marquardt this June in Sin City. After stringing together 5-straight octagon victories, Tavares has since dropped back-to-back fights to Yoel Romero and most recently Tim Boetsch.

UFC 182 takes place January 3 live from Las Vegas’ MGM Grand Garden Arena. The main card airs on pay-per-view following the prelims which are set for FOX Sports 1 and UFC Fight Pass.

The event is headlined by a light heavyweight title fight featuring champ Jon Jones taking on Daniel Cormier.

Who do you have winning this middleweight bout? Sound off Penn Nation!