Thiago Alves staying in Florida, training through Hurricane Irma in lead up to UFC Pittsburgh

As Hurricane Irma barrels down on Florida this weekend most residents have been forced to close up shop and evacuate the area. Others, including UFC welterweight veteran Thiago Alves, are staying behind and defending their homes.

With a huge storm to weather, fight fans would think that the 33-year-old Brazilian would evacuate the target area as he prepares for his co-main event bout with Mike Perry at UFC Fight Night 116 on Sept. 16 live on FOX Sports 1 from inside PPG Paints Arena in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Instead, Alves is hunkering down and riding out the massive hurricane.

“(The hurricane) is going west, so things are getting better,” Alves told MMA Fighting. “We'll wait and see.”

“I'll stay with the family here,” he added. “When it’s over, I’ll go to war.”

Like many other Floridians who have seen this type of weather before, “Pitbull” has taken the proper measures to prepare for Hurricane Irma.

“I have built in shutters at home and I have a generator as well for when the power goes down, and plenty of fuel to use,” Alves said. “It's just wait and see. We have lots of water and food. We will just wait."

With winds expected to swirl at speeds upwards of 150 mph it’s going to be extremely dangerous to be in the path of Hurricane Irma when it touches down in Florida this weekend. Hopefully Alves is able to wade through the destruction and make his way up north next week for his anticipated scrap with “Platinum.”

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