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UFC Quick Quote: Thiago Alves brain surgery nothing more than a groin shot and superglue

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"You've got a vein, you've got an artery. A vein is low pressure; an artery is the high pressure. Once they touch inside your brain they cause bleeding, and they saw a vein and an artery were pretty close from each other, and they didn't know if it was something that I was born with, or if it was something that happened over the years. So what they do with the angiogram is they make a small incision on my groin, and they put a catheter inside. They shoot dye all the way into my brain and with the dye they can see clearly what it is, if it's something that needs to get fixed. They put superglue between the vein and the artery. That's what the doctors told me 'just tell everybody you've got superglue in your brain right now, and you'll be alright.' So that's what I'm going to tell everybody. That was the procedure pretty much. [The Fitch fight] needs to happen. That fight was supposed to be done in December, and that's the second time it couldn't happen, but I'm really happy. I'm sure he wants to fight me, too. [Watching him fight Ben Saunders] was torture. Especially the way Fitch fought, I trained for that, I was prepared. I was 100-percent prepared for his kind of fight. I wish it was me, but there's nothing I can do, it is what it is. I'm just going to try to make the best of it."

Former UFC welterweight number one contender Thiago Alves tells MMAWeekly that the worst part of his surgery was having to watch Jon Fitch fight someone else in his place. Ben Saunders stepped in for "The Pitbull" after a pre-fight CAT Scan showed a brain irregularity that required outpatient surgery to correct. Now the Brazilian is back on his feet and planning for a long overdue rematch against Fitch at UFC 115 in Vancouver. Is there anyone out there who's betting against him?

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