In gearing up for UFC 100 on July 11th where Georges St-Pierre will meet his toughest test in Thiago Alves I think it is time we examine where Thiago came from and what wins have lead him to be the Number 1 contender in the UFC Welterweight Division.

Thiago on fight night will come into the ring at 190 to 199 pounds.  Now you may wonder how in the hell can he fight at the 170 pound division but come in the night of the fight at 199 pounds.  Well Thiago Alves is arguably the largest welterweight in the world and he tries his best to cut down to 170 pounds the day before the fight to meet the weight limit.

He systematically has been mowing through the Welterweight division in the UFC since coming off a lose to Jon Fitch in June of 2006.  His list of victims since the loss to Fitch include John Alessio, Tony DeSouza, Kuniyoshi Hironaka, Chris Lytle, Karo Parisyan, Matt Hughes and Josh Koscheck (who came in on two weeks notice).  

Thiago’s resume at only 25 years old is pretty incredible.  He may only be a purple belt in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, but he trains at the prestigious American Top Team.  American Top Team has been home to Wilson Gouveia, Jeff Monson, Dennis Kang as well as current WEC Champion Mike Brown.  

So how exactly can Thiago beat Georges St-Pierre at UFC 100?

I think the answer is similar to my thoughts on the BJ Penn fight, he starts off strong and hopefully finishes Georges off by the end of Round 2.  He’ll need to use his kicks to slow Georges down and eventually catch Georges with one of his patented knees to the head and put Georges to sleep.  He will be at a disadvantage when it comes to wrestling and jiu-jitsu so he’ll need to win this fight on the feet and quickly.  If Thiago gets going we could see the patented Pitbull who puts people to sleep often and quickly.

The Poodle Effect:  

“I don’t care how talented you are. If you don’t have gas in the tank - if the Ferrari doesn’t have the gas in the tank, it ain’t going to finish the quarter mile, and that’s the bottom line.”

Diego Sanchez

Diego Sanchez touched on what will be the largest problem for this fight with Georges at UFC 100.  He has never been in a five round fight, especially with someone who can push the pace like Georges St-Pierre can.  Thiago may stuff the Georges takedowns but eventually Georges will get through and get Thiago down.  If Georges was able to pass BJ Penn’s world class guard what makes anyone think Thiago will be able to put up a fight.  A Pitbull might be dominant, but as the time ticks bye and the later rounds come the Pitbull will become nothing but a Poodle.

The number 16 is going to be a huge factor in this fight.  Not only is it the number of wins Thiago has achieved in his career, but it is the number of rounds Georges St-Pierre has won since being knocked out.  Meaning Georges hasn’t lost one round since losing his title to Matt Serra….not one.  If that isnt focus I don’t know what is.