Thiago Alves (Portuguese pronunciation: [tʃiˈaɡu ˈawvis]; born 3 October 1983) is a Brazilian former bare-knuckle fighter and former mixed martial artist.
At 19, Alves relocated from Brazil to Coconut Creek, Florida to train full-time at the prestigious American Top Team camp.
Despite having early success in the bout, especially on the ground, Alves fell victim to a triangle choke late in the second round.
[4] Thiago returned to action on the undercard of UFC 56, defeating previously-undefeated Ansar Chalangov by TKO due to punches at 2:25 into the first round.
Alves returned to his winning ways at Ortiz vs. Shamrock 3 - The Final Chapter, defeating veteran John Alessio by unanimous decision.
Following his victory, it was announced that Alves tested positive for a diuretic, spironolactone, which he supposedly used to help him lose water weight in order to make the 170-pound limit.
[5] As a result of the failed drug test, Alves was suspended eight months by the Nevada State Athletic Commission and fined $5,500.
[6] Alves returned at UFC Fight Night 11, where he knocked out Japanese fighter Kuniyoshi Hironaka with a punch and knee in the second round.
[7] In his first bout of 2008 at UFC Fight Night 13, Alves faced his biggest test to date, as he was matched up against welterweight contender Karo Parisyan.
After resisting any attempts to grapple but failing to amount any significant offense during the stand-up exchanges throughout the first round, "The Pitbull" scored a knee to the head of Parisyan, knocking down the judo expert before finishing him on the ground with strikes.
The Welterweight bout, which served as the main event of UFC 85 in London, was scheduled as a late replacement after Chuck Liddell had to pull out of his headliner fight against Rashad Evans with a hamstring injury.
[10] Josh Koscheck, another top-contender and four-time NCAA wrestling All-American, stepped in for Sanchez on short notice.
[12] The Brazilian's improved takedown-defense was once again on display, as the American Top Team fighter forced Koscheck into a kick boxing battle.
After consecutive dominant performances against Parisyan, Hughes and Koscheck, Dana White announced that Alves had earned a title shot against the winner of the welterweight title-fight at UFC 94.
[14] Thiago Alves fought Georges St-Pierre for the welterweight title at the Mandalay Bay in Las Vegas on 11 July 2009 at UFC 100.
[17] However, on 25 March, Alves was taken off the card due to the discovery of an arteriovenous malformation in the brain from a pre fight CAT scan.
[25] Dana White stated in the post fight press conference that Alves could be moving to the middleweight division.
[28] Alves won by a dominant unanimous decision in one of his best performances in the UFC, out-striking and out-wrestling Howard and eventually getting a knockdown in the third round with a clean punch.
Alves managed to find his rhythm and began landing clean strikes that resulted in him winning the third round, however ended up losing 29–28 on all three judges' scorecards.
After exchanging hard leg and body kicks, and showing good takedown defence, Alves was able to land a two-punch combination that dropped Abedi, securing full mount and opening up a cut due to elbows.
[38] After over two years away from the sport due to a litany of injuries and lengthy rehabilitations, Alves returned to face Seth Baczynski on 19 April 2014 at UFC on Fox 11.
[45] Alves won the fight via TKO in the second round, after hurting Mein with a brutal kick in the solar plexus and capitalizing with subsequent punches.
[79] Instead, he made his promotional debut against former contender from The Ultimate Fighter, Julian Lane, at BKFC 12 in Daytona Beach, FL on 11 September 2020[80] Alves won the fight by split decision.
[84] Alves faced "King of Violence" champion Mike Perry in the main event at BKFC Knucklemania IV on 27 April 2024, in Los Angeles.
[87] Aside from his mixed martial arts athlete and coach careers, Alves was in the process of becoming a police officer in Florida.