TUF 25 Finale's Brad Tavares thought about clipping Elias Theodorou's hair backstage

LAS VEGAS – After jawing with Elias Theodorou online, Brad Tavares contemplated a sneak attack backstage to settle things.

UFC middleweight Theodorou had offered Tavares a wager. If he lost, he’d shave the long hair that won him an endorsement from Pert Plus. If he won, he’d get all of Tavares’ purse.

“I was like, buddy, your (expletive) hair ain’t worth that much,” Tavares (13-2 MMA, 5-2 UFC) said backstage after outpointing Theodorou (15-4 MMA, 9-4 UFC) on the FS1-televised prelims of The Ultimate Fighter 25 Finale at T-Mobile Arena. “Get the (expletive) out of here.

“But even (Thursday), I was standing behind him, and I thought, ‘How funny would that be if I just buzzed his head?’ But then he’d probably try to sue me, and he’d probably win because he has some sponsorship for his hair. What fighter does that that is not a girl?”

In the end, Tavares settled the matter the old-fashioned way, taking home a unanimous decision to pick up his second consecutive win in the octagon.

Despite repeated questions, Tavares expressed no preference on his next opponent aside from an opponent who would move him up the rankings.

But after all his pre-fight talk with Theodorou, it proved to be not much more than a distraction – one that Tavares brushed aside.

“Some guys, they feel like they’ve got to run their mouth, but I issued that challenge, and even after they read the decision I went up to him jokingly and said, ‘Hey, let’s shave that head. And he was like, ‘No, no, (expletive) no.’

“He was talking a lot of (expletive), and I’m the type of guy that (believes), ‘Hey, we’re going to let our fists do the talking.'”

Check out the video above for more from Tavares on his fight and rivalry with Theodorou.

And for complete coverage of The Ultimate Fighter 25 Finale, check out the UFC Events section of the site.