Georges St. Pierre once again showed everyone why he is the UFC Welterweight Champion by dominating Thiago “Pitbull” Alves with a unanimous decision victory at UFC 100. Many believed Alves, with his size, strength, and striking ability, would be the fighter to stop GSP in his tracks.
Alves recently talked to the Brazilian magazine Tatame about why he was not able to put a stop to St. Pierre’s reign. “What surprised me was that I couldn’t find the guy… I did a great strategy, but every time I tried to catch him he moved away,” said Alves.
Pitbull is known for having great takedown defense but GSP seemed to have no trouble getting him to the ground. “About the takedowns and everything, man, when you’re out of distance it is easy for someone to take you down. He was with the perfect timing, when I realized he already was in my legs,” stated Alves.
Alves said he expected to get taken down, but he blames the loss on his striking and footwork not being up to par. “He’s a hell of a wrestler and I already expected for some takedowns, so I was training for that. In the ground I was cool, but the problem was my striking, my movement, that was the difference. I knew he’d take me down, but the thing is that he couldn’t hold me there. If I were with my best striking, like I always were, the fight would have been different,” commented Alves.
Alves admitted St. Pierre was the better man on that night, but he also said he will learn from the mistakes and come back stronger, “I have nothing to say, he was better than me that night… There are a lot of things in my camp that was a mistake. Now I see the mistakes that I did and I’ll fix them and won’t let it happen again.”
The Brazilian still believes he can defeat the champion, “St. Pierre is a great fighter, fought very well, but I couldn’t find myself in the fight. I learned a lot with this fight, I saw what the best fighter in the world has at his best, seen the best of the best fighter and I know I can beat him.”
Alves’ strong point is his striking. He felt his timing was off during the fight and he attributes that to the fact his Muay Thai coach, Mohammed Ouali, was not able to help him prepare for the match.
“The only problem that I had in my preparation for this fight is that I wasn’t with my Muay Thai coach, with whom I train for the last three years. He had to go away three months ago and I missed him a lot. I felt out of timing in the fight,” revealed Alves.
If Thiago Alves can keep doing what he was doing before he fought GSP, there is no reason he could not get another title shot within the next year or two. However, on Sept. 19 at UFC 103 Martin Kampmann (15-2) will face Mike Swick (14-2), and the winner of that fight is next in line for a crack at the champ.