I love it how Alves finally gets the respect he deserves around here. Its a long way from when I got flamed for saying he would destroy Karo! He will prove why he is the 2nd best welterweight in the world by battering Fitch. If Fitch got destroyed standing against GSP who wanted absolutely NO PARTS of Alves standing, then Fitch is going to get DEMOLISHED! He will be going for takedowns for dear life. Fortunately he wont be able to take alves down. So we will finally get to see a Fitch fight, not destined to go to a decision.

John, i responded to you questions on the shogun training vid thread. I am still gettin my final parlays ironed out but i think i am sticking with all the guys i mentioned.

for sum reason i think alves is gunna cut to much weight again this fight and get beat and make the move to 185

come on john, finally no decision! do you mean like the time he stopped alves in the 2nd round when they fought last. i think alves takes this one in the 1st or 2nd, but to say fitch can’t finish is not real accurate.

I didn’t see GSP “wanting absolutely NO PARTS of Alves standing”. Actually I saw GSP own him everywhere. Am I wrong?

it’ll be a great fight…I wouldve’ thought the UFC would keep them separted to build them BOTH back up for rematches but apparently not…if Alves wins he’ll be 1 win away from a rematch…if Fitch wins I see the UFC playing the Hendo, Okami game

Alves looks like a mini Ferrigno in that pic.

YES!!!! I know Fitch is a tough s.o.b but I’m feeling like Alves has got this one. I don’t see him controlling Alves like GSP did.

WE all know how good Alves has become. But I’ve got a feeeling AKA gay stablemate Fitch is gonna out-work the pitbull. Otherwise, FItch is gonna get KTFO!

GSP BEAT ALVES IN THE STANDUP
if you think otherwise you have some sort of handicap or didnt watch the fight

Man, when I’m wrong, I’m wrong. I don’t know how many Fitch fans have been “waiting for this for a long time”. As evidenced by all the comments about Alves knocking out Fitch, it’s obvious that the Pitbull fans are the ones who have been waiting for this one. Whatever. Fitch is improved as well. We shall see how this one goes down. Decision for Fitch if I put money on it.

fitch by tko again imo. Alves has crazy skills but i doubt if he will ever be champ or get past Fitch in his life. I doubt very many people have seen their original fight, thats what is so funny about this “big rematch”, it was on the undercard and was never shown (I downloaded it from Xbox live). It was a great double up kick knock out by Fitch after dominating the positioning of the enitre fight. As a matter of fact the first time Alves got on top was when he postured up and took the kicks. Aside from one knock down about 15 seconds into the fight(which looked like a slip) Fitch DOMINATED the fight! and will do again.

There wasnt enough standup in the GSP/alves fight to say either won the exchanges. GSP threw a punch of two and then boom takedown. He did what he needed to do, set up takedowns off punches…But dont tell me that anyone won those striking exchanges cause there werent many, GSP wanted no parts, but I cant blame him because he fought teh perfect fight and had the best stratregy to beat alves!

FYI: you cant even count Fitch’s win over alves…alves was 1/10th the fighter he was when Fitch beat him.

NNR: I will respond in that thread!

GSP delivered several damaging strikes on the feet to Alves and took virtually none himself.
I’m not sure how it needs to be more decisive.

He had trouble keeping Alves down in the early rounds, so there was a lot of stand up.

People who are saying Fitch is going to get KTFO, who has ever knocked out Fitch, the guy is very hard to finsh? I’m not a huge Fitch fan, but Fitch was the one who did the KO’ing last time.

GSP won that fight because he was in better condition and had the better wrestling, Thiago looked drained in the weigh-ins and was soon worn out physically and mentally when GSP took him down early in the first and pounded on him, by the time that Alves got back to his feet he’d lost his killer instinct as mentally he’d already lost, plus with a wrestler as good as GSP you have to limit your kicks in case you get taken down and that was Thiago’s best weapon.

Great performance from GSP, he is the more complete mixed martial artist, but his wrestling and cardio were a bigger factor than his striking, without that Thiago would have been able to throw more kicks and give GSP fits, instead he didn’t have the aggression required to hurt GSP and ended up getting picked apart on the feet before taken down and pounded again and again. Until Thiago can master the weight cut and develop better TDD, which has improved a lot but is still not good enough for GSP’s level of wrestling, then he won’t ever beat GSP.

John, saying you cant count Fitch’s win over Alves is absurd. Almost as absurd as saying GSP did not win the standup. I respect your input because you are a very educated poster but in this case I think you are definitely wrong. As David said, Thiago got picked apart on his feet. Saying “GSP threw a punch of two and then boom takedown” is a GROSS exaggeration.

Was that because Alves was scared to get taked down? Almost definitely. And as Shiaz said before, in the early round GSP couldnt keep Alves down so he was forced to stand with him.

Personally I think it is just a matter of time before GSP starts testing the water at 185. Yes, I know, he is a freak with his body and wants at least 6 months to pack on the muscle – and in no way do I blame him. This is his livelyhood and his life, he should go about it in the smartest LONG TERM scenario possible. But, hypothetically, say he left the weight division tomorrow. Who would fight for the belt? Even though technically Swick or Hardy (which I have SERIOUS problems with – Hardy that is, not so much Swick) is next, you would be delusional if you said Fitch was not at the top of the list.

Sorry for the over use of the random capitalized words to prove a point.

GSP dropped Alves in the 3rd or 4th round. I think it was the 4th. He definitely won that exchange, I’d say. But thats just me.

And about this rematch, I still haven’t seen the original fight…

Fitch by UD. He’ll follow GSP’s game plan and leave mightymouse fighting from his back for 3 rounds.

Everyone forgets that fitch too has changed ALOT sense 2006. This will be a great match to see if Fitch can actually survive Alves striking and if so then he learned from GSP and I’d be willing to watch GSP vs Fitch II.

I agree with you WB. I think john G is a troll, and not very educated about mma, saying gsp didnt school alves in the standup is absurd, as is his prediction that the shogun vs machida fight will be competitive. Lyoto by total destruction is the correct and obvious prediction.

WB: THanks for disagreeing with me without making it personal and resulting to name calling. I mean that! I have so much respect for knowledgeable bloggers that can do that. The easy thing is to call me a troll, and say I dont know anything when you dont disagree with my opinion. So props to you!

I didnt word my original post correctly. Basically what I was trying to say is:

1)This isnt even a real rematch. Nothing that happened in the 1st fight is relevant when assessing this fight because both fighters have drastically improved since they faced each other a few years back. This is one of the easiest fights to asses. Its grappler vs. Striker. If the majority of the fight takes pace on the feet, Fitch willl get BATTERED! If Fitch can take Alves down and keep him there, he will win a decision. There isnt any real mystery to this fight (but still a very appealing fight in my eyes). Its either an Alves KO, or a Fitch decision. Personally, I think Alves is more equipped to defend Fitch’s takedowns and keep the fight standing then Fitch is equipped to stand with Alves. or if Alves gets takedown, he has shown the ability to just stand up a la Liddell or Bisping. IF ANYONE other than GSP can put/keep Alves on his back its fitch, so I think this is a very competitive fight. But my money will be on Alves being able to keep most of the fight standing and KO fitch which isnt a guarentee because Fitch is one tough SOB who I have a ton of respect for but the more I think about it, Alves could also win by decision because Fitch is that tough. Fitch wont ever finish alves again, but he can possibly win a decision.

As for GSP/Alves fight. GSP won every second of that fight and had the perfect strategy to beat Alves. Problem is that there arent many fighters athletic enough to do what GSP did to tiago. GSP did the smart thing and mix it up and keep alves guessing and never letting him get off and GSP landed many more strikes then alves did…but Never in the fight did we really get to see a at least a minute of striking exchanges…and I dont blame gSP because that was strategically the blue print for how to beat alves. I said that he wanted no parts of the stand up because GSP has a striking background and was a very good one at that. He evolved into a wrestler with a great ground game who is well rounded enough to do anything that attacks any of his opponents weaknesses. Who can bame him for that? I sure wont! If GSP fights a guy like Paulo Thiago, or Matt HUghes…he will WANT parts of them in the stand up because its the smart thing to do. GSP went into the Alves fight knowing that at all costs, he needed to avoid striking with Alves for long periods of time…and I dont blame him for that, but he still wanted no parts of the exchanges. Technically GSP still got the better of the striking exchanges that resulted from GSP’s gameplan and well rounded mma game. You want to know who wanted parts of Alves’s striking? CHRIS LYTLE! As well rounded as lytle is (very under rated ground game), he wanted to stand and bang with alves. Like I said, I dont blame GSP for wanting no parts of the stand up. As well rounded as he is, he would be stupid to get into a slugfest with alves.

when I said that GSP wanted NO Parts of Alves in the stand up, I wasnt bashing GSP…it was a statement intended to praise Alves’s striking…but around here making the littlest comment not intended to be offensive is the equivilant of when a white guy says anything about a black man on TV…YOU JUST GET CRUCIFIED!

Arnold: I agree that Fitch will TRY to implement the same strategy that GSP used against alves, but Im not sure he is athletic enough to pull it off.

john you are exactly right. Fitch is going to use the same strategy as GSP, it is probably the best strategy to use against Thiago. And like you I don’t think that Fitch will be good enough to pull it off this time. Alves’ wrestling has improved tremendously over the last few fights and he is stronger and faster than Fitch. If Fitch can smother him he wins a UD, if not early night and a KO for Alves. Either way this fight is going to be awesome.

Just out of morbid curiosity, how many dimensions would you say Fitch has?

Good call PW

Well he has submission wins, decision wins, and a TKO so I would say he’s rather well rounded, and the TKO was on Alves lol. Alves loses this one again.

4 tko’s, 5 submissions, 9 decisions…

He has more than just standup or GNP……4 wins via subs compared to Alves one. Plus his record is better….and you cannot say that he hasn’t faced the same talent pool that Alves has. I’d say that his competition had more depth….Alves was no threat to GSP and each time Fitch was on his feet, there was more of a threat (can’t say he was on his feet much though – he took a shit kicking).

I know the majority rules for Alves to come in and avenge a dramatic 2nd round loss to Fitch but im sorry to dissapoint you guys…Fitch takes it again.If Hughes can put Alves on his back so can Fitch.Alves is the pitbull in this fight,and fitch is the Matador.Fitch is gonna grind him out to a decision,possibly another tko.I wouldnt be surprised…some times lightning strikes 2wice.lol.

I agree. Fitch wins again. I think Alves should move up to Middleweight. The only thing he has going for him against the top guys is is massive size which is not enough against the best.

He’d have no problem cutting weight if his head wasn’t as large as a pumpkin. His head belongs on someone the size of Andre the Giant…and speaking of massive heads, nobody’s head is larger than Bigfoot Silva.

It’s been 2 1/2 years since Fitch even attempted to finish a fight. All he does is take dudes down and sit on their backs for 15 minutes. If that’s all he can do then let him join the fucking rodeo.

I can’t stand when people hate a fighter by the way he wins… Saying Fitch is not qualified because he wins by the judges is as irrelevant as my saying I hate 1 sided strikers who show no skill and simply let there hands go. A win is a win, whether it by the score card or by a flash KO.

PW maybe you should watch an event that doesn’t allow ground game. How is a win any less of a win if its by the scorecard or a submission or KO. I’m tired of watching a Jardine/Chuck dancing match where they blindly drop bombs hoping to maybe land a lucky one.

Sorry, I differentiate between a good ground game and lay ’n pray. I absolutely despise fighters who only go for takedowns and sit in top position to try to ride out a decision. By contrast, I thought the fight between Condit and Kampman, which was almost entirely on the ground, was a remarkable display by both fighters. There was non-stop ground and pound, submission attempts, counters, sweeps and reversals. It was beautiful to watch, as opposed to watching someone secure a hug.

I agree with PW with despising fighters who takedown and sit on top – and that would only be the only and only Brick Loser. Other than that, Fitch is a good fighter who’ll lay a beating on Pumpkin Head.

As far as THIS fight is concerned. Alves takes it, maybe even by TKO, but likely by UD.

Wtf are you on, so hughes, pariysan, and koschek werent big fights.

no, they were not title fights. They were not fights that will get him into the hall of fame.

so did spencer fisher. different alves now.

Difference is Spencer didnt completely dominate Alves like a lil kid for a round 1/2 until he decided to tko him.lol.I hope Alves has improved dramtically becuz Fitch is a beast.Fitch annihilated Alves throught that whole fight,1 of the biggest mis matches ive ever seen at ww.So i hope he took a Super-Man pill or the same thing is gona happen again.

JoDy, just because Alves is one of your boys he can’t be a DBag? You sound like you are probably a DBag just like him. You two deserve eachother.