Thiago Alves has been suspended for three months after he missed weight by over 6lbs prior to his UFC 205 fight with Jim Miller in New York City earlier this month.
Alves had been hoping to make his lightweight debut at the event, but though he was still allowed to fight Miller, they did so at a catchweight the following night instead, and he lost by unanimous decision.
Suspensions for missing weight is not standard practice at UFC events, but it appears the New York State Athletic Commission do things a little differently than others, with Kelvin Gastelum also having been suspended for 6 months at the same show for failing to even attempt to make weight for his fight with Donald Cerrone.
It’ll be interesting to see if other commissions now follow suit as it seems this could be a useful additional deterrant to stop fighters from mismanaging their weight cuts.
That being said, Alves suspension is something of a token gesture given that it’s unlikely he was going to be booked to fight again in then next three months anyway.
Alves has since stated that he was suffering from food poisoning the week before the fight, which interfered with his weight cut, but he’s vowed to continue at lightweight next time out.
