The UFC’s head honcho, Dana White, can be unforgiving, often showing fighters the door if they fail to meet expectations. While he does offer chances for redemption, once he’s on a firing spree, there’s little room for error. That was clear after the UFC 313 announcement, where six fighters were cut. Later, even heavyweights Jairzinho Rozenstruik and Jamal Pogues were axed for being too lackluster. However, a UFC veteran had a little different case than others. 

Last week, the popular social media account Borrachinha Depot posted on X, “Brad Tavares removed from the UFC active roster.” Many assumed the veteran middleweight’s recent 2 wins in 5 fights had put him in the UFC head honcho’s red zone. However, that wasn’t exactly the case. Tavares’ contract had simply run its course. 

Tavares on the Still Friends podcast said, “So, my last fight was the last one on my previous contract, so that contract expired. Bro, funny enough, I don’t know what it is,  it might be some AI-type stuff, but they are on it because my contract expired, and boom, I was removed from the roster.”

That might have been a nerve-wracking experience for Tavares to see his name suddenly removed from the roster. While he was still in the middle of contract negotiations, the news broke. He seemed confident that his last performance against Gerald Meerschaert at UFC Fight Night: Emmett vs. Murphy inside the Apex was enough to keep him safe from Dana White’s laser-beaming eyes.

He added, “Anyway, I was in the midst of negotiating my new contract, which I signed. That’s when all the news came out, and it was funny to me. It’s the chance you take, right? If I had underperformed or lost my last fight, 100 percent it would have been my last one.”

Brad Tavares has been an integral part of the UFC ever since winning The Ultimate Fighter Season 11 back in 2010. Now, in 2025, over a decade and a half later, he’s still set to compete inside the Octagon. Remarkably, he’s just one win away from surpassing Michael Bisping’s record for the most middleweight victories in UFC history, with both currently tied at 19. Naturally, fans are thrilled to see their longtime vet back and chasing such a milestone.

Fan reacts to Dana White re-signing Brad Tavares in the UFC

 A fan of him still believes that Tavares has the grit in him to stand against tough competition, and wrote, “F– it, he’s not washed yet he’s a good test for guys coming up and deserves to be able to make money challenging young guys or fellow vets in solid stand up battles. Men like this have their place in the sport, and it’s an important one. Welcome back, UFC stalwart.”

That’s definitely a positive start for the veteran’s comeback news. But the hilarious jabs started when a user commented, “I figured, the decision king lives to fight another day,” subtly trolling Tavares’s outlandish 14 career MMA victories by decision. Another user found a way to continue the banter, noting that 4 of his last 5 fights were at the Apex, with only UFC 292 being an exception, writing, “the apex legend continues”. Also, the user referred to ‘Apex Legends,’ a very popular online battle royale shooting game.

Another user was just happy to see Tavares back and glad that he could still support his family with the money he’s going to make, writing, “Cool to see a man getting another opportunity to make bread.” Meanwhile, a great matchmaking suggestion popped up: “Shara or Michel Pereira.” While Shara Magomedov might be a tricky stylistic matchup, Bo Nickal or Michel Pereira could make a lot more sense for the middleweight vet’s next outing.

These are some interesting reactions from the fans. With that being said, do you think Brad Tavares can break Michael Bisping’s record in his next bout? Or will that take another fight? Please let us know by commenting below!