Thiago Alves turns to 'The Dolce Diet' in hopes of remaining at welterweight

Props: MMA Fighting

Quoteworthy:

"It hurts my soul to see these guys work so hard in the gym their whole damn lives, get to the UFC, the biggest stage for MMA in the world, and have it all go to sh-t the couple days before the weigh-in just because they haven't learned the right information or they're listening to the wrong people ... Thiago told me on the phone earlier that he walks around at 195 [pounds] eight weeks before the fight. I said, 'Sh-t, that's it? You can do that the week before the fight with me and you'll feel phenomenal. The sauna to me is like an oven. Most saunas are 180 degrees. You're actually cooking, roasting your organs ... You're bringing them into a detrimental state on the eve of the most important event of your life. Most athletes just think, 'Oh, I have to make weight.' Not, 'I have to make weight and then perform at the best of my ability.' I keep my athletes super-hydrated the week of the fight. I keep them eating food, eating carbohydrates the entire week of the fight. In this business, a lot of guys don't want to pay for anything. They work so hard to make what money they do ... But these guys are losing hundreds of thousands of dollars over time in bonuses, incentives, sponsorships, and purse upgrades, simply by not doing this the right way."

UFC welterweight (and possibly middleweight) Thiago Alves will soon be adhering to "The Dolce Diet" after failing to make weight for his UFC 117 fight against Jon Fitch. "Pitbull" is a repeat offender and has been threatened to be removed from the 170-pound division by UFC President Dana White. Can Mike Dolce, MMA fighter and nutritional guru, cure the Brazilian of his weight cutting issues? And how dangerous can Alves be if he doesn't need the sauna the day before a fight? Time will tell...