Israel Adesanya already has another opponent in mind if he beats Brad Tavares

Having won his first two UFC bouts, kickboxing export Israel Adesanya has been rewarded with a main event battle with well-established middleweight veteran Brad Tavares. The pair’s bout headlines The Ultimate Fighter 27 Finale on July 6.

Interestingly, this bout with Tavares is one that Adesanya asked for. And if he gets past the Hawaiian star, he plans on asking for another specific matchup: a fight with the winner of Uriah Hall and Paulo Costa’s fight, which goes down July 7 at UFC 226.

“The UFC are being nice to me,” Adesanya said on the latest edition of The MMA Hour (transcribed by MMAMania). “They are helping me out in the way I get to choose my opponents. Like I said, that is three for three now, and they don’t even know they are doing it. First it was Rob Wilkinson, then I saw Marvin [Vettori] backstage at UFC 219 and now Brad.”