Scale Discrepancies = No Big Deal for Thiago Alves (Dolce Diet still legit lol)

Quote :: With rough patches behind him, UFC 138's Thiago Alves sees better days ahead

BIRMINGHAM, England – UFC 138 had the makings of a disaster for former UFC welterweight title challenger Thiago Alves.

A 16-fight UFC veteran, he was criticized for taking on an unknown UFC newcomer in Papy Abedi, and at Friday's weigh-ins, his past weight-cutting issues seemed to catch up with him again when he initially failed to make weight.

A victory, though, was what Alves needed to reassure himself better days are ahead.

Alves, who first debuted with the UFC more than six years ago, snapped out of a 1-3 skid for his first stoppage victory since June 2008. He earned a first-round submission victory over his previously undefeated Congolese-Swedish opponent. It was one of five bouts on Saturday's UFC 138 main card, which aired via delay on Spike TV from LG Arena in Birmingham, England.

Alves (19-8 MMA, 11-5 UFC) set up the victory after dropping Abedi (8-1 MMA, 0-1 UFC) with a combination, absorbing an upkick, cutting Abedi with a slicing elbow, and then submitting him with a rear-naked choke as he tried to get back to his feet.

Alves called it a "highlight" of his career. But for a former title challenger – one who's defeated the likes of Josh Koscheck, Matt Hughes and Chris Lytle – was a victory over a little known newcomer really that special?

"I've been through some tough spots, but that's just life, the way it happens," he told MMAjunkie.com (www.mmajunkie.com) after the fight. "This fight was very special for me because I put in a lot of work and opened my eyes to a lot of things. I'm very happy. I'm very prepared for whatever comes next."

And whatever comes next will be in the welterweight division. Alves missed weight in two past high-profile incidents (and a tested positive for a diuretic in another), but after hooking up with nutritionist Mike Dolce, he initially had no issues. However, at Friday's UFC 138 weigh-ins, he came in a pound heavy and needed additional time to get to the needed 171 pounds.

But Alves said it was much ado about nothing, and he thinks some of the weight-related critics have been too harsh.

"They are (a little unfair)," he said. "But I'm never going to miss weight again. It's just I was a pound over, maybe. On some scales, I was on weight, but the UFC scale is official. I was a pound over. We took care of it. It didn't take long. It didn't hurt me. It was just a miscalculation."

After some recent duds (including decisions losses to Jon Fitch, Rick Story and champ St-Pierre), Alves' killer instinct seemed lost. A fighter who once earned five straight UFC knockout victories appeared a different fighter.

However, Alves said a little adversity can re-spark a fighter's passion and put the past in the past.

"I think the more time you spend in this sport, you find more ways to get motivated some way, somehow," he said. "You stop thinking about the bad stuff. It's just life. Sometimes you have to go through stuff to get better. That's where I think I am right now.

"I came through all of it, and I'm ready. I'm very excited. Bring it on."

If he actually missed weight on the Dolce Diet, Mike would've shytt a brick and his loyalists would question him.. Shytt would hit the fan lol...

Subject: From Mike Dolce Himself Sun Nov 06, 2011 7:51 pm

From Mike Dolce himself as he told MMAFIGHTING

Quote :: Thiago Alves' Initial Weigh-In Miscue Not What It Seems, Says Nutritionist

Thiago Alves' nutritionist knows how it must look for his fighter to come in a pound over on his first trip to the scale at the UFC 138 weigh-ins, but he still wishes people would give the UFC welterweight the benefit of the doubt just this once.

As nutritionist Mike Dolce told MMA Fighting from England on Friday afternoon, Alves had no trouble making the 171-pound limit on his second try, and would have made it the first time except for a calibration issue.

"We had four different scales," Dolce said. "Every scale had him between [1]69 [pounds] and [1]71 [pounds]. We were happy. It was an easy weight cut, he felt fine, high energy, bouncing around. We got to the weigh-ins and he was [1]72.3 [pounds] with his shorts on. He took off his shorts and he was [1]72 [pounds] on the dot. We were shocked, but hey, no problem. We walked off the scale, we went backstage, there was a sauna there, he sat in the sauna for a few minutes, then he took a pee, then we went back out and made 171 [pounds]. It was literally that simple."

What's not so simple, according to Dolce, was dealing with the public backlash that he saw on Twitter once news got out that Alves was over. Though Alves made weight "maybe 40 minutes later," according to Dolce, by then the story of his initial miss was out and MMA fans seemed to have made up their minds about him.

"And that sucks, because I see how hard this kid's working," said Dolce. "He understands that he has to work his way back up the ladder, and he's doing everything correctly in his personal, emotional, professional, and financial life to make sure he makes a statement and makes a run in the welterweight division. Having something silly like this, to see everyone jump on him, you know, I understand why since he's had trouble in the past, but come on, the kid came back a half-hour later and made weight with a smile."

Granted, before Alves hired Dolce as a nutritionist, the Brazilian had a bad habit of coming in over the limit. He came in three pounds heavy for his fight with Matt Hughes at UFC 85, and he clocked in at 171.5 for his rematch with Jon Fitch at UFC 117 -- a minor miss that cost him 20% of his fight purse.

Now it seems that fans are so used to Alves missing weight that Friday's miscue only confirmed what they already believed about him, even though, Dolce said, they weren't the only ones surprised by the numbers on the scale.

"There was five guys who got to the weigh-ins and stepped on the scale and were overweight and were shocked also. They had to jump in the back and start trying to cut weight on their own. ...It's always our responsibility as professionals to be on weight regardless of the circumstance. But when there's this many guys this far off, something's wrong. It's not just us."

While several foreign fighters have commented publicly on the difficulty of getting their normal dietary needs met while cutting weight in the U.K., Dolce said he brought "a suitcase full of food" for Alves -- about $400 worth for just a few days, in his estimation. Customs restrictions make it impossible to bring fruits or vegetables in to the country, he said, but the team was well prepared and Alves had "an awesome weight cut."

"He looks great, not sucked down, no dark circles under his eyes," Dolce said. "It wasn't a matter of, can he make weight? It was that we stepped on four different scales and I would have to say that our scale is wrong, because the UFC is the official."

Source

interesting

Heh Thiago misses the mark by one pound.... Chris misses the mark by TWENTY ONE pounds.

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