Merely two years, Thiago Alves was considered one of the top 10 best pound-for-pound fighters in the world.Now, the former welterweight contender could be on the chopping block at UFC 138 when he rolls out the welcome mat for newcomer Papy Abedi.After …
Merely two years, Thiago Alves was considered one of the top 10 best pound-for-pound fighters in the world.
Now, the former welterweight contender could be on the chopping block at UFC 138 when he rolls out the welcome mat for newcomer Papy Abedi.
After losing to Jon Fitch in June 2006, Alves went on a reign of terror in the welterweight division that lasted two years and earned him a shot at UFC champion Georges St-Pierre.
Heading into the epic UFC 100 showdown, many believed Alves would be St-Pierre’s biggest test. He was riding a seven-fight win streak, which included victories over world-class opposition in Matt Hughes, Josh Koscheck and Karo Parisyan.
All of the momentum in the world didn’t matter for Alves, who was outclassed by St-Pierre in every aspect en route to a lopsided unanimous decision loss.
Since that fight, Alves has suffered multiple injuries, struggled to make weight and endured a steep decline in fight performance.
To put it bluntly, Alves, who is 1-3 in his last four fights, just doesn’t seem like the same fighter anymore.
At only 28 years of age, Alves has plenty of time to turn things around. He is still one of the best strikers in the entire welterweight division. If he can clean up his takedown defense, he would be a nightmare for any 170-pounder.
As well as cleaning up his defense, it would be nice to see Alves add dimensions to his game. People tend to forget that he’s a brown belt in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu.
While Alves is by no means Demian Maia on the ground, it would be a nice change-up to see him implement takedowns and groundwork to round off his skills.
Can Thiago Alves become an elite welterweight again?
He most certainly can, but the road back has to begin against Abedi. If not, “The Pitbull” could be barking his swan song at UFC 138.
UFC 138 is set for this weekend, but given the lack of media attention that the event is receiving, one has to wonder if a different main event might have helped spark some additional interest in the fight card. Though the current main event betw…
UFC 138 is set for this weekend, but given the lack of media attention that the event is receiving, one has to wonder if a different main event might have helped spark some additional interest in the fight card.
Though the current main event between Chris Leben and Mark Munoz has some intrigue to it, there are plenty of other fights scheduled now that could have probably made for a better main event.
The one that sticks out like a sore thumb, though, is the fight currently scheduled to be the semi-main event for the very first UFC on FOX event next Saturday night, Clay Guida vs. Ben Henderson.
The lightweight contest has all the makings of being one of the best fights of the year. Two highly entertaining fighters will do battle with the winner, very likely earning the next shot at current UFC lightweight champion Frankie Edgar in 2012.
Henderson has only fought twice in the UFC, but his dominant victory over Mark Bocek and a somewhat surprisingly easy-looking victory over fellow top-five contender Jim Miller has already put him in the driver’s seat for a shot at the title. A former WEC champion, Henderson has been in the spotlight of the main event before and has never failed to put on a show for the fans.
Clay Guida’s story is quite different.
Although he, too, has always been known for putting on highly entertaining fights for the fans, Guida had found himself having trouble breaking into the truly elite level of the lightweight division in the UFC just a couple years ago.
In order to cure those struggles, he decided to make the move to train with perhaps the best fight camp in America today and head trainer Greg Jackson at Jackson’s Submission Fighting.
From that point on, Guida’s career has been going in a dramatically different direction.
Now 4-0 in his past four fights, Guida has his eyes set on the prize that has eluded him throughout his entire five-year UFC career—the UFC light heavyweight championship.
There’s every reason in the world to believe that Clay Guida vs. Ben Henderson could be one of the fights of the year and, unlike the Leben-Munoz fight that will be headlining UFC 138, this fight actually has immediate title implications.
Typically the UFC does an excellent job of getting this type of fight in front of its fans. Unfortunately, this time it seems as if they have dropped the ball in a bad way. Not only is the very important fight between Guida and Henderson not going to be the main event, it is not going to be on the televised UFC on FOX event at all.
UFC President Dana White announced months ago that there would only be one televised fight on the inaugural UFC on FOX card, that being the heavyweight title fight between Cain Velasquez and Junior dos Santos.
Many of us thought that he might change his opinion given that there is a very realistic possibility that the heavyweight title fight doesn’t even last one round, but it appears that he and the FOX executives are sticking to their guns.
The No. 1 contenders’ fight between Henderson and Guida has been relegated to Facebook duty.
Are you kidding me?!
Sure, plenty of people tune in to watch the fights on Facebook, but it’s hard to get amped up about a fight if you’re watching it on your 12” MacBook Pro when you could be watching it on your 60” Plasma screen with surround sound.
It just doesn’t feel the same, does it?
The opportunity to move this fight to the main event of UFC 138 was there and it just never seemed to happen.
People are going to tune in to watch UFC on FOX: Velasquez vs. dos Santos no matter what, so it’s not like having a fight like Henderson-Guida on Facebook is going to bring in significantly more viewers. However, putting it as the main event, or at least the semi-main event for UFC 138, could’ve done wonders for what is otherwise a relatively weak fight card.
The UFC typically makes pretty good decisions when it comes to the placement of its fights and I’m sure there’s a perfectly logical explanation to all of this, but on the surface it really looks like they missed the mark by not putting Guida vs. Henderson on the UFC 138 fight card.
The UFC is known for putting on some of the most exciting events in all of sports. Not only do fans in attendance rise to their feet to cheer on their favorite fighters, but those watching at home arguably get an even better experience as the unique ca…
The UFC is known for putting on some of the most exciting events in all of sports. Not only do fans in attendance rise to their feet to cheer on their favorite fighters, but those watching at home arguably get an even better experience as the unique camera angles and overall production value from the world’s biggest MMA promotion are unmatched.
So why, then, is this weekend’s UFC 138 fight card from Birmingham, England getting so much criticism from those who call themselves fans of the sport?
Certainly the fact that this event is across the pond and will not be available live on television in the United States is a tough sell to some, but there seems to be a growing number of fans who are considering flat-out skipping this event and just skipping UFC 138 like it was the 13th floor in a hotel.
Don’t get me wrong, this isn’t the greatest card that the UFC has ever put on, but I truly believe that this event is being highly underrated by those fans who aren’t even going to watch it.
In fact, I’ve put together a list of the top-five reasons that I believe no true UFC fan should miss UFC 138. So put your Haterade down and read on!
Papy Abedi will be making his much anticipated UFC debut at UFC 138. Abedi brings a black belt in judo and some thunderous power to the Octagon.In eight professional bouts, only one person has had the unfortunate pleasure of lasting until the final bel…
Papy Abedi will be making his much anticipated UFC debut at UFC 138. Abedi brings a black belt in judo and some thunderous power to the Octagon.
In eight professional bouts, only one person has had the unfortunate pleasure of lasting until the final bell. His last bout ended as a result of a knockdown that transitioned into a guillotine choke.
For most fighters, their first bout in the UFC is against someone who’s either relatively new themselves, or a veteran well past their prime. Abedi instead has a welcoming party that’s hosted by top 10 welterweight Thiago Alves.
Besides making his UFC debut, Abedi will also be making his welterweight debut as well. He didn’t look drained at the weigh ins and it seems the cut hasn’t bothered him at all.
His opponent Alves has some of the best striking in the 170lb division. “The Pitbull” has bone breaking leg kicks to go along with lightning fast knees and hands.
Alves is likely to use a lot of leg kicks to attempt to control the distance and keep Abedi at bay. Alves will have openings for his power hand as Abedi is a southpaw and has shown to lead with hooks at times.
Abedi is no doubt confident about his own stand up abilities but he should look to avoid any extended striking contests.
He has to close the distance and use his clinch game against Alves. At UFC 130, we saw Rick Story able to implement a strategy that forced Thiago into corners. Once Alves was near the cage, Story was able to take down Alves or hit him with a few shots.
Alves’ kryptonite has always been wrestlers. Georges St-Pierre and Jon Fitch were able to take Alves down at will in their bouts. Granted those are the top two welterweights in the world so I don’t expect Abedi to have the same success.
Even if Abedi can clinch with Thiago, it won’t be easy getting the Brazilian to the ground. Abedi will more than likely eat a few knees in his attempts to take Thiago down so he has to be prepared to take a few shots to get the take down.
It will be interesting to see how much Alves is affected by his weight cut, which is something that’s always a concern when he fights.
If Alves doesn’t have his usual speed, expect to see Abedi work his way inside and use his judo background to take Alves to the mat. Holding Thiago down not only prevents him from using his best offensive weapons, it is the area Abedi has the greatest chance of winning.
Thiago Alves’ career can be summed up in about one word—mysterious.In fact, since entered the sport of mixed martial arts, Alves has showed shines of greatness—but he’s also showed his fair share of struggles.Alves, also referred to as the …
Thiago Alves’ career can be summed up in about one word—mysterious.
In fact, since entered the sport of mixed martial arts, Alves has showed shines of greatness—but he’s also showed his fair share of struggles.
Alves, also referred to as the “Pitbull”, lost two of his first four fights when he first entered the UFC as many fans began to consider him as your ordinary, average fighter.
However, Alves proved his critics wrong by reeling off seven consecutive wins on his way to a title shot with George St-Pierre at UFC 100.
Alves would end up losing to St-Pierre via Unanimous Decision as his career appeared to be heading back down the drain.
He went on to lose three of his next four fights, and even missed weight against Jon Fitch at UFC 117.
Now, set to take on rising star Papy Abedi, it was Alves who once again failed to make weight.
It appears as if Alves has a commitment problem as it’s not the first time in his career that this has occurred.
While Alves will be squaring off with Abedi in just a few short hours, his biggest challenge may very well be himself.
If Alves wants to defeat Abedi he’ll have to first get his mind straight.
Another strategy Alves will want to stick to is maintaining the fight in the stand up as he’ll be taking on a much stronger welterweight.
Abedi has displayed vicious ground and pound strikes in the past leaving fans to believe Alves will want to attempt to end his opponent’s night via knockout.
While Alves is the favorite going in, he’ll have to maintain his focus and stick to his game plan if he wants to leave England victorious.
It was nearly five years ago when then, middleweight fighter, Papy Abedi stepped inside the octagon for the very first time.In his mixed martial arts debut, Abedi knocked out Mikael Pastor in the very first round of action as he began to establish hims…
It was nearly five years ago when then, middleweight fighter, Papy Abedi stepped inside the octagon for the very first time.
In his mixed martial arts debut, Abedi knocked out Mikael Pastor in the very first round of action as he began to establish himself as a legitimate middleweight fighter overseas.
Abedi went on to win seven consecutive fights on route to earning himself a contract from the Ultimate Fighting Championship.
However, Abedi isn’t a middleweight any longer as he recently made the transition to the welterweight division by dropping 15 lbs.
Unfortunately for Abedi, the UFC wasted no time in throwing him in with the lions as he will square off with one of the most dangerous fighters in mixed martial arts today.
Abedi will meet Thiago Alves in a three round fight in hopes of showing the world just how skilled he truly is.
But, Alves is no slouch as he’s been fighting in the UFC since October of 2005.
Alves is also one of the most dangerous strikers as he’s knocked out 11 opponents over the course of his career.
While Abedi may be an up-and-coming fighter in the UFC, he’ll have to be at the top of his game in order to defeat Alves.
Abedi will want to avoid the stand up as much as possible as Alves has some of the heaviest hands in the 170 lb. weight division.
To Abedi’s advantage, Alves is one of the only Brazilians who isn’t exceptional in the submission game.
Therefore, Abedi will want to take the fight to the ground and impose his will on Alves through his vicious strikes and elbows.
If Abedi can avoid being teed off on and control the ground game, there’s a great chance he could walk out of the octagon on November 5th with the first win of his UFC career.
Merely two years, Thiago Alves was considered one of the top 10 best pound-for-pound fighters in the world.