Alves must fight Swick before title shot?
by cyph on Dec 12, 2008 8:08 PM EST
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PrintThat is what the Baltimore Sun reports.
Other cool nuggets:
* Diego Sanchez has officially moved down to lightweight.
* Rich Franklin is officially staying at light heavyweight.
* The winner of Franklin vs. Dan Henderson will be the coach for The Ultimate Fighter: Season 9 with Michael Bisping.
* B.J. Penn will not be allowed to move up to middleweight, even if he beats Georges St. Pierre. GSP will be fighting Thiago Alves (if GSP beats Penn) before getting a chance at a superfight with Anderson Silva.
* Mike Swick will probably fight Thiago Alves before Alves is given a title shot at welterweight. That was the rumor making the rounds. It makes sense, only because St. Pierre doesn't fight until January, so it would be awhile before he would be ready to defend his title against Alves (if St. Pierre even wins). Alves deserves a title shot, but don't be surprised to see this fight happen.
Since BJ Penn is set to defend the welterweight belt first if he wins, Florian would need to get another fight before his potential title fight. We all know how well that worked out for Karo Parisyan. Perhaps Florian should call up Thiago and go cry on each other's shoulders. I'm a proponent of Penn VS GSP II, but this sure does throw a wrench in the title picture and is vastly unfair to the two talented fighters. Furthermore, the rest of the welterweights and lightweights just found out that their contender line just got a little bit longer.
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Hmmm. Swick is a big welterweight and Alves is a small heavyweight…
I see Swick being out powered and eventually KOed.
They’re both big welterweights. However, I don’t understand this fight at all if true. Swick would get demolished pretty spectacularly. I guess it’s one way of giving him an easy fight while he waits for his chance.
It's one of 2 things.
1) Swick is the flavor of the month after another quick KO and they want to cash in on it in one way or another (Alves gets a rub from a win over him now more than most other times)
or…
2) it’s a keep busy fight like you said. No real danger for Alves but you keep his visibility up for the fans.
Contributing Editor - BloodyElbow.com - SBNation's mixed martial arts headquarters.
by Brent Brookhouse on Dec 12, 2008 9:20 PM EST up reply actions
Swick vs Alves??
I didn’t think the UFC could make a more pointless fight when the rumor of Thales Leites vs Anderson Silva made the rounds…. boy was I wrong…
They must be pretty confident Rich won't beat Henderson.
- Rich Franklin is officially staying at light heavyweight.
- The winner of Franklin vs. Dan Henderson will be the coach for The Ultimate Fighter: Season 9 with Michael Bisping
Bolts from the Blue // People who have time on their hands will inevitably waste the time of people who have work to do.
With that being said...
Winner of Franklin vs Henderson is pretty much pointless… neither one of them wants the job really…so we’ll get to watch them pretty much roll for 15 mins and a fight w/ Bisping makes zero sense.
Alves walks around at 190-195 lbs, why not do w/ Alves that they did w/ Anderson Silva? Give him a meaningless yet exciting fight at 185 lbs. I wanna see Alves vs Bisping… I think Alves would beat Bisping and that would be a fight that I think people would pay to see.
Everyone is jumping to multiple weight classes now, Alves can pull it off. If not Bisping, maybe someone like Nate Quarry or Goran Relic (butchered spelling, I’m sure). Maybe the winner of Chris Lytle vs Marcus Davis, either of those guys would make a better opponent than Swick.
by Gunslinger20 on Dec 12, 2008 9:31 PM EST up reply actions
Alves can’t lose while he fight a meaningless fight. A fight with Silva out of his weight class no less is severe tire damage.
Swick already beat Davis so having Alves fight the winner of Lytle/Davis makes less sense than a fight with Swick.
My theory is that Swick is AKA so this fight is punishment for Swick and Dana’s way of getting rid of him. Swick is pretty expendable.
Even in all of that, Swick seemed to be out of the fray, if not actually on the side of the UFC. Dana even mentioned him as a paragon of an employee. I doubt it’s punishment.
by Rundownloser on Dec 13, 2008 11:34 AM EST up reply actions
I do not understand all this Alves love!!
Swick looks pretty damn good. He brings considerably more power than Koscheck. Not a good match-up for Alves. Alves is no where near where these other posts put him. Although it has to be good news for Zuffa to know that Alves is capable of creating hype.
I’m curious as to what’s gonna happen with Florian. Who are they gonna give him, in the mean time.
That's just a big son of a bitch -- that's all there is to it.
Well it could be the…
-7 fight win streak, with 5/7 being finishes
-3 consecutive top 10 victories (battered kosh, finished karo and hughes)
- showed great TD defense against kosh
- and he is a freaking monster WW
- and… he seems strong in what many percieve as a weakness (if he has any) of GSP with Alves striking
I think their is a lot of reasons to be excited about alves… if he freaking makes weight
No offense man...
But Quick Swick has only thrashed cans… throw him in there with a fighter of Alves’s caliber… he’ll crumple just like the guys he beats. His fight against Marcus Davis was awesome, but that was a struggle for him and I view Alves as a better fighter than the Irish Hand Grenade.
I feel really bad for Florian, he’s earned his shot and he is on the outside looking in again…. I say give him Sherk if he wants to continue fighting quality opponents. Or, he can give a baptism by blood to any of the lightweights from TUF… lol
by Gunslinger20 on Dec 13, 2008 12:41 AM EST up reply actions
Koscheck is not a can. Hughes is not a can. And Karo was an elite fighter before he got thoroughly thrashed by Alves. There are many fighters who fight cans, but Alves is not one of them. Stop pulling a fight 5 years ago to do a comparison. The Alves today would smash GSP and I’m saying that with a serious face.
I think he was saying that Swick was the one facing cans.
by Rundownloser on Dec 13, 2008 11:36 AM EST up reply actions
Yeah, I was saying Swick has faced cans...
So how bout you settle down there man
by Gunslinger20 on Dec 13, 2008 12:55 PM EST up reply actions
Holy shit people need to jump off Alves’s nuts for real!! I understand he has looked amazing against top flight competition as of late but you guys need to face reality. Swick is a muay thai based fighter with good bjj and defensive wrestling just like Alves! Kos put up a decent fight to him and in my opinion Swick is a tougher matchup for him than Kos was. Swick def has better striking than Kos and is much much longer therefore he can keep Alves on the outside and the guy knows how to check leg kicks. If I was gambling on it I would pick Alves by KO but Swick can just as easily use his range and crisp boxing to outpoint him on the feet and has the ability to keep the fight there. How are you guys gonna say theres no danger in Alves losing Swick is no slouch and this is mma anything can happen any given night! Alves is def stronger, can out muscle him in the clinch, and hits harder no doubt. Swick is longer and has quicker hands. They have equally impressive takedown defense and Swick has a slight edge in the jits dept. Alves def is the favorite and rightfully so but he’s like a -180 type favorite not a monster -450 favorite like you guys are making him out to be. Swick is NO JOKE show some respect!
WOW
I just seen Brent B who is an editor on this site is saying Swick has no chance and presents no danger to Alves! Again im not saying Alves is’nt the favorite but to be honest I expect more intelligent analysis from you being an editor on this site. You should be as objective as possible and give some real insight in your posts. If you know this game then you damn well better know that matchups make fights and most of the time determine outcomes! I give Swick atleast a 20 percent chance of winning this fight if were ever to happen and since you give him much less I wanna know why? It would really suck for one editor to ruin the credibility of an amazing site!
Wanna know whats funny?
The great part about this site is that Admins express their honest opinions and don’t change their feelings to cater to people like you. Want the Admins to kiss your ass…. go to MMA Junkie.
I don’t agree wih Brent on a lot of things but I respect the hell out of him for putting his true thoughts out there…. fact is that he does it without insulting others or their credibility, that is what the editors and admins are on here, intelligent… respectful despite what trollers like you say… and honest.
by Gunslinger20 on Dec 13, 2008 10:31 AM EST up reply actions
ya ok
Im a real troller right doushe bag! Why don’t you read my argument you jerkoff. What im saying is I wanna here why Swick has no chance! Because he def would people seem to forget some of thiagos fights before his “growth spurt”
Only warning...
disagree all you want with me. Don’t resort to name calling…keep that shit at sherdog.
oh…and its douche…not doushe.
And furthermore I seriously doubt that my saying I think Alves will crush Swick damages the credibility of this site. When you’re talking MMA you need to be smart enough that when I say someone presents no threat that means that the overwhelming majority of the time the fight would end in that direction IN MY OPINION. Of course in every MMA fight each fighter has SOME chance to win.
So in conclusion; settle down, learn to spell and I’m not ruining the credibility of the site by presenting an opinion…
Contributing Editor - BloodyElbow.com - SBNation's mixed martial arts headquarters.
by Brent Brookhouse on Dec 13, 2008 4:11 PM EST up reply actions
Furthermore...
Saying that we’re forgetting Thiago’s previous fights is pointless. You take the growth of a fighter into account when analyzing a fight. This isn’t Alves of 4 years ago vs. Swick of today.
Contributing Editor - BloodyElbow.com - SBNation's mixed martial arts headquarters.
by Brent Brookhouse on Dec 13, 2008 4:13 PM EST up reply actions
I'd say something in reply to the "douche bag" comment
but I think my favorite Admin pretty much put you in your place.
Things may get heated on here sometimes but we at least discuss these subjects like adults.
by Gunslinger20 on Dec 13, 2008 5:43 PM EST up reply actions
If you give him a 20% chance, then he’s a 4-1 underdog. That’s a huge underdog in MMA circles. You basically agreed with him.
by cyph on Dec 13, 2008 10:46 AM EST up reply actions 1 recs
Baltimore Sun is bullshit...
Dana said at the Q & A’s that Alves fights the winner of GSP/Penn for the WW title next. If GSP wins, Alves fights GSP. If Penn wins, Alves fights Penn and Florian will probably have to fight again before Penn goes back down to LW to defend.
I don’t believe that for a second.
There are other 170lbers that deserve a shot before Swick at this point. No way he and alves are matched up to see who gets a shot at GSP. They would put a guy like Hughes in there for a rematch against Alves before Swick.
How about they have Alves fight a smaller MW? Alves is big and wouldn;t have to go through the entire cut and if he lost it wouldn’t mess up the WW title shot. Just a thought.
Eliot Marshall: Bader won. Like I said in the episode, I'm not going to make any excuses. It's my job to be able to deal with when somebody's doing that. It's not his job to change up his tactics.
http://eliotmarshall.com/
I mentioned in another post that I wouldn’t mind watching him fight Anderson….
certainly more exciting that the purposed Leites fight. alves is plenty big enough to fight at MW
AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH
Walk around weight refers to a fighters weight… WHEN HE IS NOT PREPARING FOR A FIGHT.
Anderson does not weigh 225 when he is in the cage. He does not weigh 225 before he begins his water cut. He does not weight 225 when he is in shape and ready to fight. He is not making a 45lbs weight cut. That is not possible at that weight.
THe BIGGEST weight cut I have ever seen and heard was a little over 30lbs but a 250lbs powerlifting cutting down to 220 to make weight.
Anderson probably cuts from 200-205 like a lot of other fighters. That is a normal weight cut.
Alves says he CUTS from around 200lbs. that is his IN SHAPE FIGHTING WEIGHT. And that is a HUGE cut (like lots of people mention) and that is why he has missed weight more than once.
This "anderson fights at 225) myth is stupid because people do not understand terms. Your walk around weight is not your in shape, fighting weight.
Dude..i’ll slow it down for you.
Alves walks around at 190-200
Anderson 225ish
Yeah, they may both weigh in at a catch weight, but you don’t think that anderson will be the physically more imposing fighter with his height and body type?
Alves would get KO’d in less than 2 min.
Spencer Fisher beat him at 170 for gods sake.
Sorry, missed it. You must have a really high IQ, lol.
Eliot Marshall: Bader won. Like I said in the episode, I'm not going to make any excuses. It's my job to be able to deal with when somebody's doing that. It's not his job to change up his tactics.
http://eliotmarshall.com/
Its the altitude...
I think we’re at an advantage… lol
by Gunslinger20 on Dec 13, 2008 5:40 PM EST up reply actions
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