Evolution of a Pit Bull: Improved Diet has Alves excited about UFC future
Words by David Abbou
Still just 28 years old, it’s easy to forget how much of a veteran Thiago Alves is when it comes to fighting. The UFC welterweight contender has already been a competitive fighter for half of his life. The native of Fortaleza had primarily focused on Muay Thai as a teenager, until one fateful day where he was discovered by representatives of American Top Team (ATT), the Florida-based MMA academy, that is widely considered one of the world’s best.
“I was a very particular Brazilian fighter, my background was Muay Thai. I was a professional Muay Thai fighter since I was 15, and I did a couple of amateur fights at 14,” recalls Alves who has grown to become one of the top 170 lb. fighters in the world. “I did some jiu-jitsu here and there in Brazil but it was more defensive, and really just about trying to get back up on my feet. At the time, ATT was picking fighters from all around the world and I was one of the lucky fighters from Brazil that got picked. It was a great opportunity for me to make a living, because back then not a lot of guys in Brazil were able to make money fighting in MMA.”
Alves made the journey to the U.S. at just 19 with dreams of making a living not only for himself, but being able to send money back home to his family. But in order to become a world-class fighter, he knew he needed to develop his BJJ game. Not much after he arrived and met his BJJ master at ATT –
former BJJ World Champion and esteemed Carlson Gracie black belt Ricardo Liborio – he knew he was in good hands.
“When I moved to America and I started training at ATT that’s when I started build a real base for jiu-jitsu. Now I’ve been there for about nine years and I feel way more comfortable on the ground these days,” says Alves who has worked his way up to a BJJ brown belt. “Learning from Ricardo, it’s awesome. I know I’ve gotten so much better, but at the same time, every time I’m training with Ricardo I feel sometimes like I don’t know anything…he’s on such a different level, he’s always ahead of you two, three or four moves…so it doesn’t matter how much better you get he’s always ahead of you. It’s a pleasure because you know when you’re training at ATT that the aspect of the ground game will never ever be a problem and the level of the training with Ricardo and some of the other black belts there is top notch.”
While his sights are currently fixed on becoming a UFC champion, Alves welcomes the day his Professor will present him with a BJJ black belt.
“Too be honest with you I have no idea when he will give it to me!” says Alves with a laugh. “I’ve trained with black belts a lot so if they think I deserve one I’ll take it, but if it takes a while longer that’s fine…it’s definitely something I’m looking forward to getting in the future.”
Alves’ MMA career so far has seen both high and lows, with wins over the likes of Karo Parisyan, Matt Hughes and Josh Koschek propelling him to a title shot against dominant welterweight champion Georges St-Pierre at UFC 100 in the summer of 2009. After losing that contest over five rounds, a bout in which he was mainly out-grappled, Alves lost his second straight fight to Jon Fitch. Before that bout Alves struggled to make the 170 lb. limit and knew he would need to make changes to his diet in order to stay a welterweight and still fight to his potential.
“MMA is a sport that makes you humble. If you’re not humble when you start then it will definitely make you humble,” reflects Alves, who recently decided to challenge himself and take his diet and conditioning program to a whole new level by hiring nutritional advisor and conditioning coach Mike Dolce before his most recent fight in November, where he submitted Papy Abedi with a rear naked choke.
Buying in to the Dolce Diet and conditioning program opened Alves’ eyes and he feels like a renewed fighter who is now better equipped to fulfill his life-long dreams in the sport.
“Because I’ve been a pro athlete for such a long time I thought I knew what I was doing, and now he (Mike Dolce) just changed my whole lifestyle. Today I’m very aware of what I’m eating, and know what my body needs and where my body’s deficiencies are. It’s a lifestyle so you become used to eating clean all the time, and whenever you’re allowed to have a cheat meal you enjoy that much more, but at the same time when you’re done you don’t feel good anymore and you want to eat clean again. It changed my life a lot, and also combining this diet with the strength and conditioning program, I feel great and I think the skies are the limit for my future right now.”
After a training camp, diet and condition program and the fight itself are finally behind him Alves loves nothing more than to catch up on some much needed R’n’R.
“I just love to chill and relax and give my body and mind a break and watch my favourite show ‘The Walking Dead’,” says Alves.
Soon it will be back to the gym for “The Pitbull”, as he recently agreed to headline the UFC’s second broadcast on the FX television network on March 3 in Sydney, Australia. His opponent in the main event is talented Danish welterweight Martin “The Hitman” Kampmann, who is fresh off a big win against Rick Story. Both fighters have had a similar development in the sport. Kampmann is also a strong kick boxer, and a BJJ brown belt under Robert Drysdale. Alves is expecting a great test from the Dane, but firmly believes in his own formula for success.
“I think Kampmann is a very tough and well-rounded fighter, and he beat Rick Story so he’s coming back up. But one thing I’m sure of is I’m going to be an even better version of myself not only when I fight him but for every fight after that.”
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