Thiago Tavares (Pictures) will face Michihiro Omigawa (Pictures) on Jan. 23 at the next UFC Fight Night.

"I think he is a good opponent," said the Brazilian lightweight. "I think the guys from UFC are trying to build my name again because I'm coming off a loss. That's why they didn't give me a top opponent. Not disrespecting him -- he is a good athlete, fought at the Olympics and in big MMA organizations. He is a middle-level fighter, not top, but I'm training to face him like it is a title shot. Every single fight is the most important fight of my life."

Tavares is sharpening his boxing and improving his cardio in Rio de Janeiro. Omigawa's takedowns won't intimidate him, Tavares told Sherdog.com

"I'm emphasizing my cardio with Rogerio Camoes and training boxing with Kelson Pinto," he said. "It's all I've done. I took a break from BJJ for a couple of weeks, and I'll wait one more week, then I'll back to my regular training, including wrestling and jiu-jitsu. Omigawa is a great judoka, but I'll be ready to play judo against him too. I'm not a great judoka, but I can apply my uchi-mata around there. I'm training a lot, getting more confident in my boxing."

The BJJ black belt has kept training intensely, and he admits that he didn't accept his loss to Tyson Griffin at UFC 76.

"You have no idea what I've being going through since that fight," Tavares said. "Plus the fact I didn't think I lost. … Maybe he won, but I didn't agree with the way that gave him the victory. … There was a judge giving him 30-27; that guy had bad intentions. I'm trying to let it go, but I will over-think it. I'm trying to see that fight not as one step back, but as I didn't make a step forward. I'll beat Omigawa in January and I hope to fight in April again because by the end of the upcoming year, I'll be back to the top again. That loss will give me a lot of victories -- that's a promise."

Despite the loss, Tavares won a bonus for fight of the night. But this gift didn't change his disappointment with the judges' decision.

"This money helps me pay my bills because my bonus is double my purse," Tavares said. "So by losing I took less money, but this bonus gave me a considerable help. That left me comfortable to train and invest in my training. But my satisfaction didn't change because the result didn't change. That will always be that way."

The Brazilian will only sleep in peace again after a rematch. Tavares explained that it has been difficult to suffer his first loss.

"I hope to have my rematch against him by the end of the first quarter of next year; I want to fight him again," he said. "I want my rematch, I need it, and I won't rest until I fight him again. About being undefeated, I never thought I would be undefeated forever. I always thought on the day I lose, at least I would have fought well, exchanging blows and giving my best. I made a lot of mistakes in that fight, I lost a lot of positions, but I gave my best."

While he is training for his return to the Octagon, Tavares will closely watch the B.J. Penn (Pictures)-Joe Stevenson match for the interim UFC lightweight title.

"In opposition to a lot of people, I'll put my money on Joe Stevenson," Tavares said. "I think he will beat B.J. Penn (Pictures) by the pressure he will impose. He is a very strong guy, well prepared, and he knows about his skills. He has great cardio and he is stronger than B.J. Being that this is a five-round fight, I think things won't go well for B.J. Penn (Pictures). Because either he wins in the first two rounds, or things can get nasty."