Fighters Only Magazine with the news:
American Top Team welterweight Thiago Alves has been matched with John ‘Doomsday’ Howard for UFC 124 on December 11th.
The fight was first reported by MMA Junkie and has since been confirmed to Fighters Only by sources close to the bout.
Alves is coming off a loss to Jon Fitch at UFC 117, putting him 0-2 in his last two and badly in need of a win. But he also has to demonstrate the he is cut out for fighting at welterweight.
That last line has some pretty big significance. Alves missed weight against Jon Fitch in his last bout, a loss to Jon Fitch at UFC 117. This was the second time Alves missed weight and there was one other instance where he was caught using banned diuretics to lose weight.
Howard is coming off his first UFC loss, a third round TKO against Jake Ellenberger. Prior to that fight Howard was undefeated in four trips to the Octagon. He has not always impressed though, picking up his first two wins via split decision and his third win was a desperate come from behind, last second KO.
This absolutely should be a win for Alves so the real story will be if he can successfully make 170 pounds.