Fightlinker reports and discusses:
- Thiago Alves vs. Paulo Thiago is probably happening at UFC 107. I can’t even read that without getting confused. Anyway, Paulo went from beating up guys named Marcone Marcone (really?) to fighting Josh Koscheck, Jon Fitch, and Thiago Alves in a row. That’s like going from being the governor of the state famous for Ice Road Truckers to running for Vice President of the United States. Yeah, I just compared Paulo Thiago to Sarah Palin. That just happened.
If Paulo Thiago had stuck to the plan and gotten starched by Josh Koscheck he might have gotten an undercard tune up fight as his second fight. If he hadn't gone three rounds with Jon Fitch, the world's #2 welterweight according to the USAT/SBN Consensus MMA Rankings, he might have gotten Chris Lytle or Marcus Davis for his third UFC fight. Instead he's going to get the USAT/SBN Consensus MMA Rankings #3 welterweight in the world, Thiago Alves.
We'll see how that works out for him.
Thiago Alves meanwhile should have control of his own fate and gets a decent tuneup fight against a still-ranked welterweight who is perhaps more credible than formidable. Alves ought to be able to batter Paulo standing and avoid going to the ground and deposit a tune up win in the bank. From there it will be interesting to see how the UFC brass views Alves. Will he have to get past Jon Fitch to get another title shot?