Sam Alvey doesn’t think Georges St-Pierre’s Octagon return is going to go as planned.
The No. 13-ranked middleweight is set to take on Thales Leites on the FS1 preliminary headliner at UFC Nashville tomorrow (Sat. April 22, 2017) night, in hopes of cracking the division’s top ten rankings. ‘Smile’n Sam’ is currently on a four-fight win streak and hopes to extend that with another big win over the Brazilian jiu-jitsu black belt.
Alvey recently joined me on The Right Hook Radio podcast to discuss his upcoming bout against the Brazilian, and stated that he has absolutely no problems going to the ground with the highly-decorated ground specialist:
“I plan on beating him up no matter where the fight goes,” Alvey said. “If it stays standing I’ll hit him real hard there, if it goes to the ground – who knows? Maybe I’ll submit him. I’m really confident in every part of my game and I’m looking forward to showing it off.”
When asked what his biggest advantage is heading into his bout against Leites, Alvey’s answer was simple – the knockout power that has accounted for 18 of his 30 career pro mixed martial arts (MMA) victories:
“Same thing I believe in most fights, I hit really hard,” said Alvey. “Ideally I can land one of those punches and he won’t get back up.”
Last week (Sat. April 15, 2017) the UFC hit Kansas City, Missouri for UFC on FOX 24, which featured a middleweight bout of huge proportions for the 185-pound division, between Jacare Souza and Robbert Whittaker.
Alvey was very impressed with Whittaker’s performance but wasn’t a fan of the early stoppage by the referee, who he believes is only there to make sure he doesn’t lose his life in the midst of competition:
“Yeah that was the only fight of the night I got to see,” Alvey admitted. “Whittaker looked great, I thought the ref looked terrible. He stopped it far too early. I’m a big believer that the ref’s job is to make sure I don’t die, not to make sure I don’t get hurt.
“So if it looks like I’m going to die then feel free to stop it, but if it looks like I’m just gonna have a limp for a little while let it be. Leave me alone. I thought Jacare was going to get him down, but Jacare looked incredibly stiff. He didn’t move right, his hands were up way too far, he just didn’t look like himself. Whittaker took full advantage.”
As it pertains to who Alvey is gunning for after a potential win over Leites, Alvey says a match-up against former light heavyweight champ Vitor Belfort would be ideal as he hasn’t looked the same since the UFC’s partnership with the United States Anti-Doping Agency (USADA).
Alvey also admitted that the toughest match-up for him at 185 pounds would most likely be former division kingpin Anderson Silva:
“Probably the same guy that everybody’s looking at, Vitor,” Alvey said. “He’s looked terrible his last four fights since USADA has come into play. He’s looked pretty bad so every middleweight looks at Vitor with money signs in their eyes.”
“Anderson Silva is probably the worst match-up in the world for most people, especially me. We’re both a little bit of a counter-striker but he’s a little faster than I am, so it turns into I have to push forward and beat his timing. So Anderson Silva would probably be the hardest match in the world for me, but I’ll be ready for it when it happens.”
The middleweight division has been a bit shaken up to say the least since current division champ Michael Bisping won the strap from Luke Rockhold last year. Bisping’s first title defense came against a then-ranked No. 14 Dan Henderson, and he will now defend his title against former welterweight champion Georges St-Pierre who is coming out of retirement.
Alvey has absolutely no problem with ‘GSP’ coming in and receiving an immediate title shot due to everything he’s done for the sport, but doesn’t like the Canadian’s chances against ‘The Count’ once they lock horns:
“It doesn’t really affect me but GSP has done more for this sport than just about anybody else,” Alvey said. “If he wants to retire and then come back, he should get an immediate title shot. He’s earned that with the career he’s had. So I’m thrilled for him, I’m going to tune in and watch it. Unfortunately I think he’s going to get beat.”
“One GSP is small. Even for a welterweight he’s not a big welterweight. He’s going to get into that cage against someone who has such good takedown defense in Michael Bisping and such confident standup as Michael Bisping, I just think GSP’s gonna be pound flat. Both guys have made a career out of out-pointing their opponents as opposed to finishing, GSP does it with his wrestling more times than that. I don’t think he’ll be able to out-point Bisping with his wrestling. Bisping is gonna be too big and too good takedown defense.”
As it pertains to the recent screw-ups that have been happening under the New York State Athletic Commission’s watch during UFC events, Alvey’s dreams of competing at Madison Square Garden are now obsolete.
After seeing calls such as the one made against Chris Weidman during his match with Gegard Mousasi, and Daniel Cormier’s towel fiasco during weigh-ins for UFC 210, Alvey no longer wishes to be a part of an MMA event in ‘The Big Apple’:
“It does. I used to really want to fight in Madison Square Garden but I don’t want to anymore. I mean they’re going to let ‘DC’ (Daniel Cormier) blatantly cheat like that? I mean in front of them! Then the screwup, they don’t allow replay, they do allow replay – yeah. I have no interest in fighting in New York anymore until that commission figures out which way is up.”
“I’ve seen that before (DC’s towel trick). I’ve seen the standing on your head backstage, that helps with a few ounces,” Alvey said. “I actually fought a guy once, the corner put the towel on his belly, just enough to inch him off on the line. I got no Ill will towards ‘DC’ but the commission is the one one that blew the call.”
You can listen to Alvey’s full interview on Right Hook Radio here.
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