Thiago Alves moving on from the GSP lose and looking forward to knocking Fitch out

Alves (16-6 MMA, 9-3 UFC), will attempts to avenge his 2006 loss to Fitch (21-3 MMA, 11-1 UFC) at UFC 111, after welterweight champion Georges St-Pierre beat him this past July at UFC 100, Alves is more determined than ever to get back to the number one contender place.

“GSP taught me a great lesson, and I’m really thankful for that,” Alves said recently. “I want to show the world what I’ve learned.” Alves believes that one of the reasons he lost to GSP was because he got to comfortable and got caught up in his own hype. “It was like two years without losing, (and) you get comfortable,” Alves said. “You think nobody is ever going to beat you again. Even if you’re winning a lot, that’s not good. You’ve got to always challenge yourself.”

While preparing for GSP, Alves trainers had many internal fights and disputes over the direction Alves’s career should be heading. Also, during this time Alves lost his Muay Thai and strength and conditioning coach and arrived at the July 11 fight less than 100 percent confident.

After his lose to GSP, his camp and Alves himself became more focused than ever. “I got rid of the bad energy, all the bad stuff that was going on in my life,” he said. “It was holding me back. Once you get fame, it comes with a lot of responsibility and a lot of bad stuff, too. You have to through those things, though, so you can train through all the bad stuff. Because (you have to) keep the good time in your life.”

With the newly found dedication and strong unity in his camp Alves believes he is ready to do what he should have done four years ago, stop Fitch

“I think it’s going to be a great fight,” Alves said. “All I’ve got on my mind is to knock Jon Fitch the [expletive] out.”

Alves and Fitch are set to fight on March 27th in UFC 111