UFC 138: Thiago Alves 'will never let his fights go to the judges ever again'

It's a long way to the top -- if you want to rock and roll.

Former UFC welterweight number one contender Thiago Alves is ready to "be aggressive again" heading into his upcoming scrap against Papy Abedi at UFC 138: "Leben vs. Munoz" on Nov. 5 in Birmingham, England.

Alves, who went from winning seven straight to losing three of his last four, has been itching to get back inside the cage to prove he's still the top contender he's been billing himself as since his promotional debut back in 2005.

"The Pitbull" was handing out knockouts left and right before he "Rush'd" into the proverbial brick wall once he finally worked his way up to a title shot. He was easily disposed of by Georges St. Pierre and has since dropped decision defeats to Jon Fitch and Rick Story, with a three-round beatdown of John Howard mixed in between.

It's not unreasonable to think the muscular Brazilian is in a "must-win" situation across the pond and he tells Tatame.com he'll "never let it go to the judges ever again."

"The trainings are very good, I’m training with a new Wrestling and Muay Thai program at ATT… It’s really good. I’ve learned a lot from my last fight, I’ll never let it go to the judges ever again. It took me a long time to start fighting, but I’ve learned what I had to learn, I’ve seen it all. Now I only have to trust my talent and on my team and go for it. I’ll try to knock him out or submit all opponents from now on. I’ll be aggressive again."  

Can Abedi play spoiler on fight night?

The 32-year-old Swede, originally born in the Democratic Republic of Congo, was signed to a four-fight contract with the world's largest fight promotion for a reason: he's a sensational judo player with eight wins in as many career fights, all but one of them finishes.

He'll also be matching Alves in the size department as he drops down from middleweight for this contest.

Sounds like fireworks for fight fans frothing for fisticuffs overseas. Anyone think "The Pitbull" can get back into the title hunt? Or are his best days behind him?

Thoughts?