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Born and raised in the fifth largest city in Brazil, Fortaleza, Thiago Alves was always considered a natural talent but while he was very young, living in poverty stricken Fortaleza was dangerous. In an interview with "Bleacher Report" in 2013
""When I was growing up, I was always a little chubby kid because I came from a family of bakers. I needed to get in shape because if I didn't, girls wouldn't pay any attention to me. I used to watch a lot of Bruce Lee and Jean-Claude Van Damme movies and saw a Thai Boxing gym right by house. I was 13 years old and decided to join in. I fell in love with combat sports."
And after four years grinding out in local mixed martial arts gyms, Alves took the next step and relocated at the age of 19 to Coconut Creek, Florida and become a student at the famous American Top Team, which was headed by Dan Lambert and Florida-based BJJ instructor and MMA fighter Marcus "Conan" Silveira. Alves was a natural talent and relentless in his striking which caught the eyes of his instructors early. Alves first MMA sanctioned match was against another American Top Team fighter and notable Jiu Jitsu black beet, Gleison Tibau, to which Alves lost by armbar at Champions Night 2 on June 30th 2001.
After compiling an 8-3 record, Alves was invited to fight Spencer Fisher at UFC Fight Night 2, on October3rd 2005. Alves drew a solid match but was caught with a nasty triangle choke and ended up tapping. However, Alves was not deterred by the loss. He would win his next two matches in the UFC before losing to the perennial Welterweight legend, Jon Fitch, who had won 16 straight til his loss to Georges St. Pierre. However, after his loss to Fitch, Alves went on the most successful winning streak in his MMA career.
Alves went on to win seven straight matches. And with quite an impressive schedule that included, John Alessio, Chris Lytle, Karo Parisyan, Matt Hughes and Josh Koscheck. Between 2006 to 2008, Alves was a top three Welterweight, and was ranked number two by the time 2009 came. It was here he would face the Welterweight champion, Georges St. Pierre in the most luminous atmosphere, UFC 100. Alves was dominated by St. Pierre, but so was just about everyone else who faced him. Alves from this point forward would face, inconsistency which plagued him as he got older.
He would be considered a tough striker with very limited takedown defense as he got older. He was faced with good upcoming talent, and in the end retired with a 23-15 record, retiring in 2019 with a loss to Tim Means at UFC on ESPN Overeem vs Rozenstruck. Alves was a very good fighter but just came up short of receiving the championship status he once dreamed of. In the overall picture however, Alves defied the odds and had overcame the barriers of poverty and became relatively successful. He now fights bare knuckle at BKFC where he is 2-0 and is studying criminal law in Florida in hopes of being a police officer.
Thiago Alves vs Josh Koscheck (UFC 90)
Thiago Alves vs Karo Parisyan (UFC Fight Night: Lauzon vs Florian)
""When I was growing up, I was always a little chubby kid because I came from a family of bakers. I needed to get in shape because if I didn't, girls wouldn't pay any attention to me. I used to watch a lot of Bruce Lee and Jean-Claude Van Damme movies and saw a Thai Boxing gym right by house. I was 13 years old and decided to join in. I fell in love with combat sports."
And after four years grinding out in local mixed martial arts gyms, Alves took the next step and relocated at the age of 19 to Coconut Creek, Florida and become a student at the famous American Top Team, which was headed by Dan Lambert and Florida-based BJJ instructor and MMA fighter Marcus "Conan" Silveira. Alves was a natural talent and relentless in his striking which caught the eyes of his instructors early. Alves first MMA sanctioned match was against another American Top Team fighter and notable Jiu Jitsu black beet, Gleison Tibau, to which Alves lost by armbar at Champions Night 2 on June 30th 2001.
After compiling an 8-3 record, Alves was invited to fight Spencer Fisher at UFC Fight Night 2, on October3rd 2005. Alves drew a solid match but was caught with a nasty triangle choke and ended up tapping. However, Alves was not deterred by the loss. He would win his next two matches in the UFC before losing to the perennial Welterweight legend, Jon Fitch, who had won 16 straight til his loss to Georges St. Pierre. However, after his loss to Fitch, Alves went on the most successful winning streak in his MMA career.
Alves went on to win seven straight matches. And with quite an impressive schedule that included, John Alessio, Chris Lytle, Karo Parisyan, Matt Hughes and Josh Koscheck. Between 2006 to 2008, Alves was a top three Welterweight, and was ranked number two by the time 2009 came. It was here he would face the Welterweight champion, Georges St. Pierre in the most luminous atmosphere, UFC 100. Alves was dominated by St. Pierre, but so was just about everyone else who faced him. Alves from this point forward would face, inconsistency which plagued him as he got older.
He would be considered a tough striker with very limited takedown defense as he got older. He was faced with good upcoming talent, and in the end retired with a 23-15 record, retiring in 2019 with a loss to Tim Means at UFC on ESPN Overeem vs Rozenstruck. Alves was a very good fighter but just came up short of receiving the championship status he once dreamed of. In the overall picture however, Alves defied the odds and had overcame the barriers of poverty and became relatively successful. He now fights bare knuckle at BKFC where he is 2-0 and is studying criminal law in Florida in hopes of being a police officer.
Thiago Alves vs Josh Koscheck (UFC 90)
Thiago Alves vs Karo Parisyan (UFC Fight Night: Lauzon vs Florian)
