(Maybe Thiago should concentrate more on cutting weight, not on updating his Match.com profile)
When Thiago Alves missed a scheduled appearance at yesterday afternoon’s open UFC 117 workout, it didn’t take long for reports to surface that the American Top Team fighter, who has been plagued with weight cutting issues in the past, was having problems shedding water and that he chose to forgo the media event to focus on making weight for Friday’s weigh-in.
Alves tweeted yesterday that he just had 15 pounds to go before he makes the 170-pound limit, which is at the higher end of the poundage most fighters start cutting at the beginning of the process over a week out from their bouts.
MMAFighting’s Ariel Helwani caught up with Alves’ opponent on Saturday night’s card in Oakland, Jon Fitch, at the workout at the UFC gym in Concord, California and the American Kickboxing Academy fighter is not one bit pleased with the situation.
(Video courtesy YouTube/MMAFighting)
For all of you Potatoheads who prefer to read the text version of the interview, here it is:
"It’s laughable. He’s still got plenty of time, so I’m not worried. With all that’s happened around this fight, I can’t get any more stressed out about it. It is what it is and I have faith that he’s gonna make weight…We knew this was always a possible situation. He’s had issues in the past with making weight and he’s had a long layoff. So [with] all those factors together we knew that there was a possibility that he would be over weight for this fight. Still, he’s got time to make the weight and I’m sure he’s gonna make the weight."
Although he says he’s confident that Alves will make weight, Fitch says that if
Thiago doesn’t make the requirements in time, he wants "Pitbull’s" camp to agree that he will make 170 at some point before the fight, even if its less than 24 hours from the opening bell.
"I’m not looking for a scenario like [he had with] Matt Hughes and [was over by] eight pounds. That’s pretty ridiculous. A pound is fairly forgivable, but if he can’t make the weight at the weigh-ins on Friday at four o’clock, I’d still like him to make the weight before the fight some time. So if he doesn’t make it at four on Friday, make it at seven or eight or nine or midnight, or whenever. Just make the weight."
"If you have this many issues with not making weight they need to figure something out more than the twenty percent penalty cos’ it doesn’t seem like that’s motivation enough for people. It keeps happening. We’re a professional sport and part of the job is making weight."
On another note, Fitch says he would "be a bit perturbed" if Jake Shields beats Martin Kampmann and gets a title shot against the winner of St-Pierre-Koscheck next, believing that the former Strikeforce champ needs to earn the shot like everybody else in the division.
I think Alves should fight at middle.. He would be more comfortable, and able to hold onto more mass. I honestly think it would make him a better fighter, and the UFC would have one more good middleweight to add to their already beefy roster of… three.