Thiago “Pitbull” Alves is 10-5 inside the Octagon, and while the 27 year-old does has wins over formidable opponents like Matt Hughes and Josh Koscheck, he has come up short in each of his losses, which were all to wrestlers.
He dropped a three-round decision to Rick Story (14-3) at UFC 130 and fell out of the top five in his weight class after he got out-wrestled and pressured by his tough opponent.
The fighters who were placed in front of him in the rankings include former opposition like current UFC Welterweight Champion Georges St. Pierre and Jon Fitch.
It’s the wrestlers that usually dominate MMA, and there are many fighters who don’t acknowledge it while not taking the necessary lessons to learning how to sprawl or counter.
The only thing they can do is avoid them, and these are five fighters who should.