Thiago Alves' $12,000 half pound of weight
Thiago Alves faled to to make weight for his No. 1 contenders match with Jon Fitch, lost a decision in the UFC 117 bout, and then heard the disappointment of his boss, UFC president Dana White.
"I know I have things to correct. I'm not done yet. I needed to go through those things to reveal myself as a stronger person. I won't let them bring me down."
A half-pound mistake was the source of many of his problems. For non-title fights in the welterweight division, fighters get a one-pound allowance, making 171 pounds the limit. He says that just prior to weighing in, he checked his weight on a scale and was at 171, but when he got to the official California state athletic commission scale, it registered him at 171.5 pounds.
At that point, according to Alves, he was prepared to cut the remaining weight. He says a sauna suit was on the way to him until he was told he had another option. A commission official informed him that he could either lose the remaining half-pound or accept a fine that would penalize him 20 percent of his purse.
His contracted salary was $60,000, meaning he'd forfeit $12,000 for the half-pound, but at the time, he saw it as a fair tradeoff.
"It was just a half-pound, so I'm sure my body could have flushed it out," he said. "But I didn't want to. I just wanted to concentrate on the fight. It was just easier for me to give up the money. Yes, we fight for money, but you also fight to win, and at the time, I was thinking I didn't want to cut the weight. I was just focused on getting ready to fight. When you're cutting weight and dehydrated, you don't always think right. In the future, that won't happen again. It can't happen again."
