“I want Jon Fitch to win. That’s what I really want because then he’ll be holding the belt and it will be really nice to fight him for the belt and get my rematch. I would be able to fight him for the title and get my rematch at the same time so it will be perfect.”
– Thigo Alves tells FightHype.com that he will be rooting for Jon Fitch to pull off the upset at UFC 87: “Seek and Destroy” on August 9 and defeat Georges St. Pierre to become the new welterweight champion. That way the “Pitbull” can kill two birds with one stone: avenge a technical knockout loss earlier in his career and challenge for the 170-pound strap. First, however, he’ll have to take care of business against Diego Sanchez at UFC 90: “Silva vs. Cote” on Ocotber 25. Of course, Fitch will also have to defeat “Rush.”
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Don’t look past Diego. He hasn’t got that title shot just yet.
Thats funny! Thiago’s thinking about Fitch. Diego is going to beat Thiago’s a$$. But I think Thiago is strong enough to go to a decision.
when I gave this story to mania, I was thinking the same thing. I think this will be a great fight! I like both fighters, and would like Diego to win!
Its definatly going to be a great fight! My guess is, winner of this fight gets the next title shot.
Alves is going to beat Diego…I promise you that Alves will win this fight!
Diego is very small and couldnt take Luigi to the ground. Alves is like the biggest guy he will face and his takedown defense is gettings much better. Alves is very strong and will be able to keep the fight standing. Diego’s improved striking and his cocky ego will probably make him comfortable enough to exchange with Alves which will prove to be a huge Mistake.
Alves will TEST that mexican Jaw of Diego’s and I doubt that it will hold up.
Do you think Thiago will be able to take Diego’s pace? Thiago already has trouble making weight. I think Diego’s stand up is as good as Thiago’s. Its a bold statment to say “I promise” john.
I promised he would KO Hughes and Alves….this will be no different. Its not going to last 3 rounds. It wont make it out of the 2nd and Diego will not get him down so tyhe pace wont matter. on the ground Alves is improved, he trains with Maximus and tibau and other amazing ground guys like thiago Silva.
Punches or Knees are going to enjd this fight. Just like karo got his 1st KO loss at the hands oh thiago, now its Diego’s turn to get KTFO. Alves is only getting better and better. Hew knows that the only things stopping him from being a SERIOUS contender to the title are Takedown defense, Jits (defensive), cardio and weight, luckily those are all very correctable aspects of the fight game. Alves is going to the top and he will get a shot at GSP or Fitch
For someone to say that Diego’s stand up is just as good as Thiago’s is a braindead statement. Thiago is a one dimensional fighter, for the most part, and that is a devastating muay thai striker. The WORST part of Diego Sanchez’s game is his striking. The two are not even close.
Diego can not and will not win this fight standing and banging with Alves. However, Diego is going to have to trade with Thiago in order to secure a takedown. He can’t just shoot in from 8 feet out like Hughes was trying. He needs to throw a combination, get to the inside, and take him down with a judo-like trip. The faster the pace of this fight is at, advantage Diego.
Has anyone seen the early lines on this fight?
John:
One thing Diego has over Alves, intelligence.
He has that over Alves tenfold.
Diego is not stupid enough to think his stand up is better than Alves’. Diego will attack Alves’ weakest attribute. I’m not sure what that is but I’m sure Diego and his camp do.
Diego, more than most, is 1000% dedicated, committed, passionate about his career. He’ll will be watching video after video again and again of Alves to determine where to take the fight.
Diego also has more dimensions than Hughes.
This will be interesting but I certainly don’t see Alves ploughing through everyone he meets. I thnink Diego will bring him down to reality
Sounds like someone wants to dodge GSP at all costs.
Alves via strikes!
The only problem with pointing out that Diego couldn’t take Luigi down is that it also bears mentioning Diego won the stand-up and noone said that would happen.
It happens time and time again. Guys who are unquestionably better strikers get outstruck by inferior opponents. Reason being…they are put on the defensive and thinking about the sprawl to avoid the takedown. Diego can win the stand-up though at an extreme power disadvantage, but as soon as Thiago shows he isn’t waiting to sprawl and throws first, he will get taken down and beaten up.
While I like Thiago, I think the re-focused Diego wins this.
This is an awsome assesment, not sure if it will play out this way PJJ, but this explains everything perfectly.
Agreed. Diego is going to beat him in the first round. Alves isnt as good as he is made out to be. He stuffed Hughes takedowns but that was all he had to train for.
Not to repeat myself on too many threads, but Diego is going to kick his tubby ass.
I like Diego but Alves will stuff his takedowns and kill him in the stand-up.
i think diego will have a better chance taking down alves than he did against luigi. luigi’s whole fight plan was to stuff the takedown and never put himself in position to win that fight. alves is different, he will be fighting to win not just survive and that could leave him more open to takedowns. diego is much more explosive at this point in his career than hughes is now and diego’s stand-up has gotten even better. i look for this to be a 3 rnd war and i can promise you diego has better cardio than thiago. it’s gonna be a great fight no matter what and i dont see either fighter steamrolling the other, but i do see diego winning this fight and fighting the winner of b.j/gsp (no disrespect to fitch). then diego might be in a little over his head.
Diego is going to get hammered sorry guys.
True, Diego is gonna receive the Hammer of God!
LMAO..he already knows the TRUTH!!..GSP wins Fitch, Diego whoops his behind. Then both losers face off.
did middle school start already? I haven’t seen the guys getting upset about thread hijacking yet this week!
Well, on that note. Does anyone know if the cutman works for the UFC, or directly for a fighter? Only asking cause I noticed “stitch” at the Affliction event. Just wondering.
hey john, alan belcher is fighting ed herman at ufn in sept. I think you asked!
thanks…thats an easy win for Herman!
Thats too bad. I was really hoping to see someone slap another triangle on Herman. The guy needs to learn some submission defense.
the reason WHY thiago alves wants to fight jon fitch for the title is….. HE’S scared shit to fight GSP, and of course, SCARED shit to fight diego sanchez. i hope diego shows you how it’s done!
thiago just knows he’s gonna get raped by gsp if they fight
yep pretty much
Agreed
alls alves has to do to win this fight is stop diego’s takedowns, if he can do that he will win
but gsp will rape fitch and thiago
and then he’ll have an amazing fight with bj before he moves upto the middleweight div and test himself in that weight class
but he’ll only move up if he wins against bj
You also have to remember that Sanchez has decent stand up. Nowhere near the best but he did KO’d Riggs out-cold with 1 punch.
BS he knocked Riggs down with one punch, then Riggs jumped to his feet and caught a knee followed by three more punches that put him out. Get it right
AND, you’re talking about Joe Riggs, who just headlined an event that was held on a coldesack (spelling?) and was in the main event against a kid with a record of 1-1.
Joe Riggs should just give up training, keep thanking God that Karo got injured and Dana somehow granted him a title shot, and balloon back up to 350 lbs as he sits on his couch watching Jerry Springer reruns.
Diego’s striking has gotten better, but when you compare evolution of Diego’s striking to the other TUF1 guys (Kenny, Forrest and Kos…) he is way behind them. Hell Kos had no striking at all and now can outclass Diego in that department. I’m starting to think maybe he just doesn’t have an aptitude for it or maybe he just rested on the ground game too long.
I don’t think kos has good stand up at all. he has quick hands but he still isn’t a great striker yet.
I agree GSP will finish him. But I do wanna see thiago beat up Finch. I think he will Diego in UFC 90
Once a hater always a hater… Thiago will get his @ss kicked yet again if he fights Fi(t)ch again. Even if he makes weight, he won’t get past Diego.
Karo? is that you
They’ll never fight for the title anyway becuase he can’t make weight.
he fought 10 times as a WW and one time only didn’t make weight due to an injured ankle. get over it
There was also the dieretics…the last time was for the biggest fight of his life. Two times when you’re a professional athlete isn’t acceptable especially when you miss it as much as he did last time.
IMO- We will see this rematch soon…As soon as GSP beats Fitch, in his 1st title defence, Thiago and Fitch can go at it again..
i agree with this one. thiago will get the losers rematch with fitch cuz they are both gonna lose.
0 for 2. I dont think he will get by Diego, and Fitch is going to get stomped out by GSP (I do think it will go to a decision however, but nonetheless GSP will dominate).
no way diego beats thiago, he cannot take him down and on the feet he will be demolished.
war thiago!
Agreed and Diego gets real frustrated when he can’t get the takedown. He can’t compete with Thiago’s stand up at all. Maybe he’ll get lucky and a get a flash knockout ala Riggs.
I would say a tko for GSP in round 3.
i dont actually like diego or thiago… but i think this will be an awesome fight. i do hope thiago gets to fight fitch again though.
He will . . . while Diego and GSP are fighting for the title.
I would rather see GSP vs Sanchez, I just think GSP’s wrestling is far and away superior to hughes and although Thiago defended a hughes take down, he is not going to stop GSP, on the other hand Diego has good scrambles and some decent ground skills to give GSP a better fight. IMO.
This is what I see happening. Thiago and Diego, will go to a decision, although Thiago will win. And then, he’ll be next up for a title shot against GSP. After he loses there, then he will have a rematch with Fitch. And then I see Thiago taking that one too. That means Fitch will lose his next 2 fights.
lol, no reason for them to fight you already know it all, just call the ufc and tell them to complete the results for the next 10 ufc events..
These are just my opinions, you don’t have to agree. And no I don’t know everything. That’s just how I see shit going down in the near future.
that wasn’t a critic, I thought it was funny the way you wrote it as it had already happened.
My bad.
Did you actually see the 1st fight? Fitch destroyed him and then knocked him out with 2 up kicks, it was brutal and fitch didn’t have a scratch on him. PS the fight was a prelim that I had to download on Xbox Live, most people have not seen it i think. Fitch would be a huge favorite in a rematch
Fitch vs Burkman is another DOMINATING performance by Fitch that was a prelim that not many people saw either.
Alves better not look past diego because if he does he will get beat. If they both bring their A game, this will be a war and a great fight! Can’t wait for this fight to happen!
Somebody better wake Thiago up because neither Karo or Hughes were at the top of the weight class. Beating them is not the same as trying to get past Diego. He will get beat and the dream will be over. Focus man Focus!!!
thiago better not underestimate diego after all diego is learning muay thia kickboxing and remeber diego has knocked out a better striker in joe riggs… well not better but a diffrent striker ( joe riggs having the best technical boxing in mma) and thiago being the best muay thia kickboxer but over all same striking calibers just diffrent style.
Anywya i see sanchez winning by a head kick followed up with a knee. Unless alves takes him seriously and perpares for diego the fighter
He will win Diego
Do I see Kalib starnes in the background of that picture?
yep, he trained at ATT as well, I would have kicked him out long ago..
Am I mistaken, or did I see Kalib in the Tour de France last week?
that makes sense, he is probably looking for another job.
He has to in my eyes the biggest let down of the TUF show.. The on the show was feared by just about everyone.. Then..I don’t know..his was so unimpressive ever since his first fight there.
Yea they grease him up & try to catch him.
nobody seemed to find that funny except me
nice one bob
thiago alves sucks honestly, he beat matt hughes who was looking past that fight and took it to kiss dana whites ass,and he beat karo? and he thinks he gets a shot? he gets raped by diego, then koscheck will rape that panzy and he’ll be in the elite xc
Randy great comment. Thank you, i needed that laugh.
Diego is a beast if he is healthy and in the right mind, that dude is an animal. All Diego has to do is take him down, grind him and ground and pound. Only if Alves gets lucky with his knees, but I don’t see Diego being sloppy like Karo and Hughes were.
did you forget that diego couldn’t take luigi fioravanti down?
AND Diego has a tendency to be a sloppy fighter. Really good but perhaps a bit too over-excited. Then again that got him a perfect 18-0 record at one point. It’ll be a great fight.
Does anyone know the status of Matt Serra? Shouldn’t he be somewhere in the mix? Not that I like him or thinks he should be there, but he just lost the belt. Or maybe he’s injured??
he’s waiting to fight Hughes who might be out from a torn ACL.
lol, matt serra is still #6 in the world at mmaweekly.com, i honestly think he is nowhere at the level of the best WW, and even as a LW which is his proper division he would get beat by anybody.
matt hughes will beat him down.
He has a long lay off if he’s just sitting around waiting for Hughes ACL and MCL to heal (
Sorry… I think the last I heard was 6-8 months for Hughes. Not to worry, everyone else is fighting and active. As those fights happen and otheer people make their moves, he’ll move down. I’d say he’d be off everyone’s top ten list by Feb ‘09.
He wouldn’t admit it in public, but I think Serra would be happy to serve as a gatekeeper–steady money, longer term contract, good publicity, possible endorsements.
Diego will drop to the 55’s after alves beats him
Agreed.
I posted a long time ago that Diego should be wreaking havoc in the 155 class. He is just a bit too small for the 170 class.
Diego would be a terror at 155. I think he would be able to beat anyone in the division except for BJ.
Have you seen Diego recently? He has swelled up quite a bit. He knew he had to be able to stay in the mix. And with his new found strength and his overall skills( although I hate his personality) he will be a force in the ww division.
Sorry Thiago, neither of your wishes will come true!
um what about Kos and Sanchez ..where does the rematch fit in .. Kos has two wins in a row now right..
Thiago by TKO if they ever fight again
I want Thiago Alves gone…with his diuretics and his lame ankle injury excuses. Come in at 170 and get beaten by Diego Sanchez like a man.
PS: I’d remortgage my house to bet on St. Pierre. Fitch didn’t look impressive against Chris Wilson, and is severly outclassed here.
Betting the house against Jon Fitch. Interesting. I like GSP to win the fight as well, but WOW, if you’re serious, then I wish you luck.
RePost: Did you actually see the 1st fight? Fitch destroyed him and then knocked him out with 2 up kicks, it was brutal and fitch didn’t have a scratch on him. PS the fight was a prelim that I had to download on Xbox Live, most people have not seen it i think. Fitch would be a huge favorite in a rematch
Good thing you didn’t bet your house on GSP/Serra that was much more of a miss match
Looking past Diego is very dangerous. I honestly believe Diego will beat Alves and it wont be as close as some people think. Diego is a better fighter and Alves wont come close to KO’ing the Nightmare.
wants to fight Fitch for the belt cause he knows he cant beat GSP for it!
I cant stand it when a fighter looks past the fight in front of him.
None of this matters because GSP will destroy all!
wow
he’ll just come in 30 pounds over to win again..