Thiago Alves is fighting for the first time as a lightweight Saturday night, but his decision to move down to 155 pounds didn’t come without a fine from his fight purse. He missed weight Friday morning at the official weigh-ins, tipping the scale at 163.5 pounds, ahead of his fight against Jim Miller at UFC 205, which will serve as the UFC Fight Pass featured fight.
But Alves had alleges that he has solid reasoning for the misstep. He revealed after the weigh-ins that he had been suffering from food poisoning last week (he did not indicate how long he had the illness), which led to a tougher time cutting weight.
“Unfortunately, I had food poisoning going on,” Alves told MMAFighting.com’s Ariel Helwani on Friday. “I was done with that about last Sunday. So that took a lot out of me for the weight cut. I got around 163, and my body just shut down. I couldn’t lose anymore weight. I did everything I possibly could. But, at that point, it was just in danger of my health. And I got a family, I got a little boy to take care of, so we decided to do what was the best for my health.”
Alves said that he realized he was not going to make weight mid-cut, when he still had quite a ways to go before hitting the lightweight limit. The doctors recommended that he stop cutting for safety purposes, and he agreed.
“We cooled off a little bit, tried a few more sessions and everything, and my body just wasn’t sweating at all. That’s when I realized this was going to be a little more tricky than it was. With my condition a week ago, with the food poisoning, you’re already depleted.
“I gave my best. The illness didn’t help me; I cut the rest of it.”
Alves still plans on giving lightweight another crack; he’s adamant that he’ll make weight the next time out.
“Absolutely, I gotta see through it. Even though we didn’t (make weight), I want it. I’m pretty sure if it wasn’t for the food poisoning, the illness, I would’ve been able to make it, without a doubt.”
Alves must weigh in at 173 pounds at 4 p.m. local time on Saturday, just hours before his fight against Miller. That won’t be an issue for him, he said, as he’s been walking around approximately at that weight all week.
UFC 205 takes place live from Madison Square Garden in New York City on Saturday, Nov. 12. In the main event, lightweight champion Eddie Alvarez battles 145-pound king Conor McGregor.
