Thiago Alves – UFC Fighter Profile
UFC Fighter ProfilesThiago Alves – MMA Stats
Matches: 22
Wins: 16
Losses: 6
Wins by Knockout: 10
Wins by Submission: 1
Wins by Decision: 5
Losses by Knockout: 1
Losses by Submission: 3
Losses by Decision: 2
Thiago Alves d’Araujo was born October 3, 1983. He first started training to become a fighter at the ripe young age of 14. At 15 he began training in Muay Thai and won his very first fight by knock-out versus a 25 year old competitor. By 17, he was officially training as a mixed martial arts fighter, having left his home in Brazil to join American Top Team in Coconut Creek, Florida.
After 10 bouts and a 7-3 record within the Absolute Fighting Championships, Ironheart Crown and King of the Cage federations, Alves was invited to join the UFC. Thiago debuted against fellow fresh-meat recruit Spencer Fisher at UFC fight Night 2. Alves dominated throughout the first two rounds, but was forced to tap when Fisher got him in a devastating triangle choke late in the second round.
Thiago Alves returned to the ring at UFC 56 to face Ansar Chalangov, who was undefeated at the time. Alves’s barrage of brutally accurate punches leveled Chalangov by TKO just 2:25 into round one.
He went on to fight Derrick Noble at UFC 59, a re-match Alves was anxious about since being previously submitted to Noble with a rear naked choke. It looked as if Noble would be the victor once more, throwing one punch after another, causing Alves stay on guard and to backpedal into the cage. But just as Noble moved in for the finish, Alves came alive, landing a counterpunch that was so perfectly timed it ended the fight by knock out.
By 2006, Thiago Alves had been aptly nicknamed the “Pitbull”, and was often referred to as the “Muay Thai wrecking ball”. He defeated Tony DeSouza at UFC 66, but then Thiago’s career took an abrupt vacation.
Alves tested positive for spironolactone, a diuretic. The fighter protested that he used the medication to reduce water weight and stay within the 170-lb weight limit. The Nevada State Athletic Commission was not sympathetic to the Pitbull’s cause, suspending him for 8 months and invoking a $5,500 fine.
Thiago Alves made a triumphant return at UFC Fight Night 11 to eliminate Kuniyoshi Hironaka in two rounds, followed by the defeat of veteran MMA fighter Chris Lytle. A cut above Lytle’s eye resulted in the doctors putting a stop to the bout. Alves was declared the winner.
The young Jiu-Jitsu purple belt faced his toughest opponent of all at UFC Fight Night 13 in 2008, trading blows with welterweight contender Karo Parisyan. Thiago Alves mounted little offense and barely managed to fend off Parisyan’s grappling attempts. It wasn’t looking too good for the “Pitbull”, but a sudden knee to the head took Karo down, followed by a barrage of finishing strikes on the ground.
At UFC 100, Thiago Alves was finally given the title match he’d so longed for. He faced Georges St. Pierre in a battle to the finish. All told, Thiago would drop 10 times during the bout, but he always got right back up and continued to pound away at his opponent. Both men lasted to the final bell and St. Pierre was declared winner by unanimous decision.
Alves was then scheduled to face off with Jon Fitch at UFC 107, a bout that never occurred due to an untimely knee injury for Thiago. A rematch was set for UFC 111 in March of 2010, but a pre-fight CAT scan two days prior to the match revealed an arteriovenous malformation in his brain. Six days later, Thiago Alves had corrective surgery and is now in line to rematch Fitch at UFC 117 on August 7, 2010.
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