Sam Alvey Credits New Coaches For Shocking UFC Fight Night 61 Knockout

Utilizing a high volume of crisp kicks and punches early on, Cezar ‘Mutante’ Ferreira was seemingly well on his way to picking apart Sam Alvey on the main card of last night’s (Sun., February 22, 2015) UFC Fight Night 61 from Ginasio Gigantinho in Porto Alegre, Brazil.

However, although “Smile’N” didn’t throw a ton of strikes at Ferreira, he made the ones he did count in a big way. After ‘Mutante’ landed a solid elbow, Alvey came over the top with a right hook followed by a thunderous left hook that had Ferreira tumbling to the ground in a heap:

It was a surprising turn of events for the Brazilian fans, but they still voiced their support for Alvey’s strong performance. After the fight, he spoke up to say that he knew Ferreira would come out winging kicks (via MMA Junkie):

“I knew he was going to kick me, and I was ready for it. I’m impressed with the Brazilian fans cheering for me and celebrating my win. This country is incredible, and the fans are amazing.”

Alvey, a former The Ultimate Fighter (TUF) competitor who trains with MMA legend Dan Henderson at California’s Team Quest, touched on how he’s his game has been coming together thanks to the knowledge of some new coaches:

“I got a new kickboxing coach at the gym. His name Gokhan (Yildizli). I call him Goku because Goku is pretty sweet. He’s a Dutch kickboxer as opposed to Muay Thai. It’s a lot more power. I’ve always hit hard, but I hit harder because of him.

Then I’ve got an all-around MMA coach, Bryan Harper, and he combines everything. He helps put everything together. I had a fantastic camp, and I don’t want to say I was surprised by this knockout because that was the goal from Day One. It was a little surprising it happened so quick.”

‘Smile’N’s’ win was definitely surprising, and it should lead to better things for the rising upstart contender. Does he have what it takes to hang with top-level middleweights in the UFC, or is his skillset somewhat limited to his knockout power?

Photo Credit: Jason da Silva-USA TODAY Sports