Unfortunate news is firing around the internet this AM as it’s been officially confirmed by the UFC, that Thiago Alves will not fight Jon Fitch as scheduled this Saturday, due to the fact he hasn’t been medically cleared. According to multiple reports from outlets like Yahoo Sports and MMA Junkie, pre-fight medical scans revealed an irregularity on Alves brain, and as a result, the punishing welterweight will not be allowed to fight.
Now, this is really sh-tty news, particularly for die-hard fans that have been waiting for this rematch for sometime (Fitch beat Alves in 2006), but of course, what’s really important is the health of Alves, and it sounds like the American Top Team fighter is going to be okay. According to the Junkie report, the agent for Alves, Malki Kawa, said that it’s believed that the findings likely do not pose any serious medical concern for Alves; Jersey officials are just being understandably cautious.
So, after going on the last couple of days about how this bout is getting looked over, due to the other massive bouts on the UFC 111 card, unfortunately it’s going to have to wait for another day (any long time MMA fans knows that in this sport, being patient is a pre-requisite, Google Fedor Emelianenko for a bazillion examples).
Here’s hoping that “The Pitbull” is back in action as soon as possible.