The lion’s share of success that Dustin Poirier had in his rematch towards Conor McGregor was attributed to UFC veteran and American High Workforce’s hanging coach Thiago Alves. The primary particular person to acknowledge that following the UFC 257 occasion was none apart from Conor McGregor himself.
“The kicks accrued, for certain… I knew after I noticed he (Dustin Poirier) had Thiago Alves in his nook”, mentioned Conor McGregor.
Thiago Alves has had a kick-heavy preventing type from the start of his profession, and it’s evident from the truth that 5 of his eight knockout wins within the UFC have resulted because of kicks or knees. A well-recognized identify for UFC followers from the Zuffa and Spike TV period, Thiago Alves had been a challenger to Georges St-Pierre’s welterweight throne. A staple of UFC’s welterweight division for over 14 years, Thiago Alves fought 27 occasions within the UFC earlier than transitioning to Naked Knuckle Combating Championship in January 2020.
A Brazilian born and raised within the metropolis of Forteleza, Thiago Alves has been within the aggressive sphere of MMA since he was 15 and made his UFC debut on the second-ever UFC Struggle Evening card in October 2005, aged 22. On his manner up by the welterweight rankings, Thiago Alves went on a tear and defeated Karo Parisyan, Josh Koscheck and former champion Matt Hughes, who was essentially the most dominant champion in UFC historical past on the time.
Thiago Alves had a troublesome street after his title battle towards Georges St- Pierre
After the welterweight title battle towards GSP, Thiago Alves’ profession has been marked with accidents, well being, and weight points. The fighter needed to pull out of fights an astonishing eight occasions whereas lacking weight on a number of events. Lingering accidents compelled Alves to see lengthy intervals of inactivity in his later profession.
After an unsuccessful stint at light-weight, Alves returned to his pure weight class, however following a loss towards Tim Means, Thiago Alves was launched from the UFC in January 2020. In an interview with MMA Combating following his launch, Alves mentioned that he wished to be remembered as the perfect knockout artist within the historical past of UFC’s welterweight division.
“I’ve carried out every thing for this sport. The one factor I haven’t carried out was win the world title, however I fought the perfect welterweight of all occasions, Georges St-Pierre. A 19-year-old child that left Fortaleza for Miami with 50 {dollars} in his pocket…I need folks to recollect me as somebody who labored exhausting and believed in his dream. I did every thing my manner. I’ve carried out lots of sh*t, however I’ve discovered with my errors and stored transferring ahead with out blaming anybody else however me. I’ve no complaints”, Alves mentioned.
Thiago Alves went on to battle for Naked Knuckle Combating Championship and received his debut battle towards Julin Lane by way of break up resolution. He’s anticipated to make his return on March 12, 2021.
Revealed 29 Jan 2021, 06:00 IST