Filed under: UFC, FanHouse Exclusive, interview
Thiago Alves‘ plane touched down in Oakland, Calif., and he exhaled. After a championship match loss, after two fight postponements, after brain surgery and 13 months of inactivity, the worst stretch of his young career was supposed to have been over. Yet Alves was unknowingly walking into another trying period, this one partly of his own doing.
In the next few days, the 26-year-old would fail to make weight for his No. 1 contenders match with Jon Fitch, lose a decision in the UFC 117 bout, and then hear the disappointment of his boss, UFC president Dana White.
And now, after it all, he’s tasked with the uphill climb of starting over.
“After all the bull— I’ve been through, I’ve finally had some time to breathe,” he told MMA Fighting after a recent workout. “I had a chance to look back at the situation. I know I have things to correct. I’m not done yet. I needed to go through those things to reveal myself as a stronger person. I won’t let them bring me down.”