Gregory Rodrigues vs. Brad Tavares booked for UFC 283 event in Rio

Gregory Rodrigues isn’t looking to waste any time.

Just weeks after suffering a gruesome cut in a TKO win over Chidi Njokuani at UFC Fight Night 210, Rodrigues (13-4 MMA, 4-1 UFC) has been booked for his next fight. He meets perennial middleweight contender Brad Tavares (19-7 MMA, 14-7 UFC) at UFC 283 on Jan. 21 at Jeunesse Arena in Rio de Janeiro.

A person with knowledge of the situation confirmed the booking to MMA Junkie after an initial report by Super Lutas.

Rodrigues has knocked out three of his past four opponents. In his most recent outing earlier this month, “Robocop” rallied to finish Njokuani in Round 2, but was on the receiving end of a big knee which caused a nasty gash between his eyes. His back-and-forth battle took home the Fight of the Night bonus.

Meanwhile, Tavares will look to rebound from a unanimous decision loss to Dricus Du Plessis at UFC 276 in July. Prior to that, the Season 11 “Ultimate Fighter” alum scored back-to-back wins over Antonio Carlos Junior and Omari Akhmedov.

With the addition, the current UFC 283 lineup includes:

• Champion Deiveson Figueiredo vs. interim champion Brandon Moreno – for flyweight title
• Gabriel Bonfim vs. Mounir Lazzez
• Zarah Fairn vs. Josiane Nunes
• Gregory Rodrigues vs. Brad Tavares