Sam Alvey has been with the UFC since 2014 and has fought 21 times for the promotion. His early years with the promotion saw wins over Nate Marquardt, Rashad Evans, and Gian Villante. But lately, the results haven’t been so great. If you include his nasty bulldog choke submission loss to Julian Marquez at Saturday’s UFC on ABC 2, he’s gone 0-5-1 over his last six.
“The UFC, they won’t keep me if I lose,” Alvey said leading into the Marquez fight. “If I draw, if I get poked in the eye again they’ll probably cut me. As rightfully they should. I haven’t won. And I’m a winner and I’m going to go out there and prove it again this weekend.”
Unfortunately, it did not go down that way. Julian Marquez was just the younger, better fighter. After catching Alvey with some big bombs that nearly put him out, he caught “Smilin’ Sam” in a deep choke that put Alvey out unconscious.
Julian Vasquez just choked the soul out of Sam Alvey. Put him out cold. Wild. #UFCVegas23 pic.twitter.com/wHHqS6HCtM
— MMA mania (@mmamania) April 10, 2021
With so much riding on the fight, it’s not surprising that Alvey would put out an emotional statement. But the one he made – just moments after getting backstage from the loss – is damn near heartbreaking.
— Igor (@IgoPetrovichMma) April 10, 2021
“It’s minutes after my fight guys, and yeah, it didn’t go as planned,” a teary Alvey said. “God is in my corner. His plan is always better than my plan. I’ll be back. Man, that hurts. At least I’ve been choked out in front of millions of people no, can get that off my bucket list. Praise be to God always. Win or lose, he’s in my corner.”
At this point, the plan may have to be to move on from fighting. At 33-15-1 Sam has nothing left to prove to anyone and only more violence at the hands of up and coming competition to look forward to. If we’re looking for God’s plan, well, this latest loss may be His way of saying that’s it.
On the plus side, Alvey and Marquez got ‘Fight of the Night’ honors, so a $50,000 bonus isn’t a bad way to end things.