Thiago Alves did not look like a fighter who had been out of competition for two years.
The popular Brazilian welterweight put on a vintage performance Saturday at UFC on FOX 11, as he picked apart an extraordinarily tough Seth Baczynski in Orlando. Judges scores were 30-27 across the board in favor of the American Top Team fighter.
More Coverage: UFC on FOX 11 Results | UFC news
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In the opening round, Baczynski, an Alliance MMA fighter, did his best to circle away from Alves’ lethal right leg. But Alves managed to close the distance and land solid lrg kicks before the round was up.
In round two, Alves really turned up the heat, battering Baczynski with punches and continuing to hack away with his brutal leg kicks.
The nails-tough Baczynski’s head was busted open and his leg was bruised, but he went for broke in the final round. Alves, though, had the answer, as he successful sprawled each of his opponent’s takedown attempts and continued to land with his strikes right up until the end.
“It was very hard,” Alves (20-9) said about his time on the injured list. “When something you love is taken away from you it’s hard, but I tried to focus on the good, everything happens for a reason, it was great.”
The bout was Alves’ first since a March, 2012 loss to Martin Kampmann. It was his first victory since defeating Papy Abedi at UFC 138 in 2011.