Which welterweight would have the edge in a potential clash?

[Shogun Locc]

Is St. Pierre next for Alves?

Riding an impressive seven-fight winning streak, American Top Team striker Thiago Alves declared himself fit for a matchup with St. Pierre or B.J. Penn in 2009. St. Pierre will defend his welterweight crown against Penn at UFC 94 in January. Might a date with Alves await the winner?

“I think I’m ready, but it’s up to [UFC President] Dana White and UFC management,” Alves said. “It doesn’t really matter who it is. Whoever’s the champion, I’m ready. I don’t want to wait, but if I have to wait, I’ll wait.”

Alves (16-3) cruised to a unanimous decision against the highly regarded Josh Koscheck in the co-featured bout at UFC 90. The 25-year-old Brazilian, having established himself as the most-feared striker in the 170-pound division, wobbled Koscheck with a left hook in the first round and threatened him with knees, punches and elbows throughout.

“He definitely came to fight,” Koscheck said. “I think that his takedown defense was very good, and, obviously, he has a lot of power in his punches and kicks. I have no excuses. He was just better [Saturday]. He was the better fighter, and he deserved to win.”

 

[Unk1ne]

That Would Be a Good Fight id Hae TO Take GSP myself

 

[YOUNGNUTT]

I DON'T KNOW ABOUT THAT ONE!!!
KOSCHECC WASN'T ABLE TO TAKE ALVES DOWN, BUT HE WAS ABLE TO TAKE DOWN GSP ATLEAST ONCE!!!

 

[T-Rip]

St. Pierre is to quick for Thiago, hed eventually land something crucial and would win the fight even by decision cuz he will get more shots in

 

[B-Buzz]

I really hated Kos from TUF but from the way he's been acting his last few fights he's gained a lot of respect from me.
Anyways, I would really want to see that fight. I don't remember the last legit striker GSP's fought, he's kind of made a living off outwrestling wrestlers for the last couple years. I think GSP would take it but with some of the shit Alves throws out of nowhere it wouldn't surprise me to see him score a knockout.

 

[killahoe666]

GSP needs to fight Anderson Silva first

 

[MOREBASS]

^ Why ? He's the welterweight champ, and Thiago is now the #1 contender.

I understand that GSP/Silva would be a huge draw, but I don't see the need for him to move up, when he has a legitimate contender who deserves a shot.


I like Thiago, but I think GSP's speed would be the difference. Although, Alves with his Muay Thai could defenitely give him problems standing.

 

[BROWN GUERRERO]

GSP would have the advantage because his wrestling is fucking amazing, but I give Thiago has a legit shot to win this fight(and not because hes one of my favorites).

 

[lenbiasyayo]

i sure hope that is the next fight after GSP fights penn, pitbull is excitin to watch GSP also. be a great fight

 

[B-Buzz]

just saw this...

I’m on my way to Brazil, but I stopped off in Chicago to see my training partner Patrick Cote fight for the world middleweight title against Anderson Silva. While I believe he was the first fighter to make it into the 3rd round against Anderson, it’s sad to see him lose the way that he did, because of a knee injury. Patrick has a loose ACL even before, and he had been able to fight 3 fights with it, but unfortunately this one was too much for his knee. I think he was doing pretty well against Anderson, and it was a smart strategy for him to bring the fight into the later rounds. I was very impressed by the performance of Thiago Alves — he showed everybody why he belongs in the top fighters in the welterweight division. Of course, it’s up to the UFC, but I think he will be one of my next opponents pretty soon.

 

[MOREBASS]

Hm, I don't think bringing Anderson into the latter rounds did anything for this fight, before he blew his knee out.

Anderson hardly used any energy, and was pretty fresh, even by the 3rd. It would have eventually been Anderson KO'ing Cote, which was pretty apparent on the few exchanges they did manage in the fight.

 

[Shogun Locc]

Georges St. Pierre impressed with Thiago Alves performance at UFC 90

“I was very impressed by the performance of Thiago Alves he showed everybody why he belongs in the top fighters in the welterweight division. Of course, it’s up to the UFC, but I think he will be one of my next opponents pretty soon.”

 

[rylor206]

I honestly believe the reason why Cote made it to 3rd round is because he has a steel chin but eventaully he would have got caught. Silva is just to fast taking nothing away from Cote he is a Warrior.

 

[MOREBASS]

^ I agree he has chin, but looking back at it, Anderson was landing at will. The problem was that he wasn't letting his strikes go frequently.

 

[Shogun Locc]

ALVES INJURY WON'T KEEP HIM OUT OF TITLE PICTURE

"It was a great fight and I had a lot of fun," Thiago Alves told MMAWeekly.com following his three-round decision win over Josh Koscheck at UFC 90 on Saturday night. "Josh is a great opponent, so it was a lot of fun."

"It's better to get the knockout," he quipped, "but it was a great fight though."

He especially would have appreciated the knockout since he was walking around with his left hand heavily bandaged after the fight. It wasn't a disastrous injury by any means, but the knockout would have tempered the injury a bit more.

"I think I dislocated it in the fight," said Alves. "It will be fine though. It's nothing major."

And he was correct. A spokesman at American Top Team on Monday confirmed that Alves did suffer a dislocated thumb during the UFC 90 bout, adding that he took some anti-inflammatory medicine for it and it will be fine.

The injury is nothing that should hinder Alves' forward progress in the UFC welterweight division.

UFC president Dana White said before the fight, "If you look at Thiago... the two guys he just beat... the first guy to knock out Karo Parisyan. He just knocked out Matt Hughes and Matt Hughes had trouble taking him down. Koscheck beat Diego Sanchez, too. If Koscheck came out and beat Thiago Alves Saturday night, he's in line for a title shot. Thiago beats Koscheck; so is he."

White reaffirmed that assertion at the UFC 90 post-fight press conference. "This kid is definitely ready for a title shot," referring to Alves. "It's a matter of time, letting the St. Pierre vs. Penn fight happen; then we'll get him."