There may not be a scarier moment in a fighter’s life than when they are told something could be “career ending.” That’s the nightmare that Thiago “Pitbull” Alves faced just before his fight at UFC 111 when an MRI and CAT scan revealed a brain anomaly that concerned doctors enough that they would not clear him to fight.
At that point, Alves started to deal with the harsh realities of not only his fight career being in jeopardy, but simply said when the word “brain” is uttered by any doctor followed by “problem,” the worst thoughts start trolling around in your head.
“When my manager called me on Wednesday he told me I was not going to fight, I got really frustrated and upset,” Alves told MMAWeekly Radio in an exclusive interview. “When I heard the next day that it could be career ending, I was just going nuts for about two days.
“I was really, really scared about not fighting again. I would say it was the longest week of my life.”
Further examination proved that while Alves wouldn’t be able to fight on the New Jersey card, the problem in his brain would not stop him from competing again. A wave of relief washed over the Brazilian.
He underwent surgery in New York last Wednesday and explained the issue, and how doctors fixed the problem.
“You’ve got a vein, you’ve got an artery. A vein is low pressure; an artery is the high pressure. Once they touch inside your brain they cause bleeding, and they saw a vein and an artery were pretty close from each other, and they didn’t know if it was something that I was born with, or if it was something that happened over the years,” said Alves.
“So what they do with the angiogram is they make a small incision on my groin, and they put a catheter inside. They shoot dye all the way into my brain and with the dye they can see clearly what it is, if it’s something that needs to get fixed.”
The dye revealed the vein and the artery were causing a minor problem, and doctors were able to go in and fix the issue right away.
“They put superglue between the vein and the artery. That’s what the doctors told me ‘just tell everybody you’ve got superglue in your brain right now, and you’ll be alright.’ So that’s what I’m going to tell everybody,” said Alves. “That was the procedure pretty much.”
Alves was released and back home two days later, and has already begun to work out again with light cardio and weightlifting. Doctors advised Alves to avoid any contact to the head for at least two weeks following the surgery, and his coaches at American Top Team have advised all teammates to keep him out of sparring no matter what he says. Following the two-week layoff, he can resume a full training regimen.
Looking back on what was a very scary situation, Alves is able to smile now and appreciate the future laid out in front of him.
He also says that the UFC stood close by him the entire time. The Ferttitas and Dana White checked on him constantly to make sure he was doing okay.
“It makes you feel kind of special in a way,” Alves said about the UFC staff. “They were great, I couldn’t do it without them.”
When it was all over, the only reminder Alves is left with for the whole procedure is a small scar on his hip.
Now he’s not only hungry for his comeback, he says he’s starving. The hunger will be satisfied in June when Alves finally gets the rematch with Jon Fitch that he’s been gunning for, for almost four years.
“It was perfect, it needs to happen,” Alves said about the fight with Fitch. “That fight was supposed to be done in December, and that’s the second time it couldn’t happen, but I’m really happy. I’m sure he wants to fight me, too.”
While Alves was sidelined for the UFC 111 fight, his teammate, Ben Saunders, ended up getting to fight Fitch and lost a unanimous decision. Watching the fight might have actually been more painful to Alves than any surgery he endured, because he wanted to be in the cage that night so bad he could taste it.
“It was torture,” Alves said. “Especially the way Fitch fought, I trained for that, I was prepared. I was 100-percent prepared for his kind of fight. I wish it was me, but there’s nothing I can do, it is what it is. I’m just going to try to make the best of it.”
The best of it will be the fight with Fitch actually happening this time around. The two will square off on June 12 at UFC 115 in Vancouver.
Wednesday, April 07, 2010 - by Damon Martin - MMAWeekly.com
Tags: Alves, Dana, Ferttitas, Fitch, Jon, Thiago, UFC 111, UFC 115, white