One — well, almost — and done.
Thiago Alves’ drop down to the Lightweight division didn’t go as planned, as “The Pitbull” missed weight for his 155-pound debut against Jim Miller at UFC 205 last November, which resulted in a 20-percent deduction of his purse, which eventually went to Miller.
To make matter worse, Alves dropped a unanimous decision to Jim after three rounds of action in what ultimately proved to be a catch weight bout of 162 pounds. After a disastrous experiment, Alves says his days of trying to cut down are over and will stay at Welterweight for good moving forward.
“It's not worth it,” Alves said to MMA Fighting. “I'll make the same money to cut 15 pounds more. But I don’t regret it because it was something I thought I could do. I tried, honestly, but I couldn’t. At least I tried with everything I had. The good side of it is that now I’m lighter than I was before, and I have less weight to cut. I can make 170 pounds in a week now,” said Thiago.
You listening, Khabib?
“The UFC 205 experience changed me a lot,” he continued. “I fixed everything I had to fix, removed some people that were pulling me back, and I have nothing to worry about now. My focus is to be the best now. I’m thrilled to be a father now, having fun everyday, and getting ready for this fight.”
According to Alves, its the removal of said people — his former nutritionist Mike Dolce included — helped him move forward on his march to try and erase a two-fight skid as well as the memory of the botched weight cut.
“Changing my nutritionist, that helped me,” Alves said. “There was so much negative energy between him and my team. And not only that. By blocking all that negative energy, trying to do something that was not what I wanted to accomplish after all. Cutting all that bullsh*t and focusing on what I really have to focus.”
In fairness, Dolce was not with Alves for the entire UFC 205 camp, specifically the week of the fight. Despite the bad blood between Dolce and Thiago’s camp, Alves maintains that Mike is still one of his dear friends.
Alves’ return to 170 pounds will see him matchup against Patrick Cote at the upcoming UFC 210 pay-per-view (PPV) event in Buffalo, New York. Feeling fresher than ever, “The Pitbull” promises a bad night for “The Predator.”
“Cote is not afraid (to fight me standing), he will try to do everything, but everybody wants to take me down eventually, so I’m ready for everything, his wrestling and his striking,” Alves said. “I'm better than him everywhere. I’ll be better prepared physically as well. It’s going to be a good night for the fans and a bad night for Cote,” said Alves.
“I think I will finish him in the third. I’ll smash him in the first rounds, and end his misery in the third."
