Sam Alvey knows he’ll have to shed a lot of weight to hit the middleweight mark, but “Smile’n Sam” remains unfazed.
Alvey (33-14-1 MMA, 10-9-1 UFC) will return to 185 pounds for the first time in over three years when he takes on Zak Cummings at a UFC Fight Night event on April 10.
After missing weight for the first time in his career in a unanimous decision loss to Ramazan Emeev in October 2017, Alvey decided to move up to light heavyweight.
He found early success at 205 pounds with a knockout of Marcin Prachnio and a split-decision win over Gian Villante but went on to lose four straight, followed by a split draw against Da Un Jung at UFC 254, which prompted his decision to move back down to middleweight.
Despite knowing it won’t be an easy move to cut back down to the 185-pound division, Alvey – who’s always walked around at well over 200 pounds – says he’s not sweating it.
“I got about 40 pounds to go, but it’s OK,” Alvey told MMA Junkie. “I’m not used to it recently, but I’m used to it a lot throughout my career. I always walked around 225, and now I’ve got to work my way back down to 185 pounds. If I can lose 25 pounds, then cut the last 15, that’ll make everything pretty easy. Well, easy, quote-unquote, it’ll never be easy. But it’ll be worth it when I’m getting my hand raised.”
Having fought in three different weight classes throughout his career, Alvey has always shown his willingness to compete against anyone, from former champions to rising prospects. So, despite his recent losing skid, Alvey continues to draw tough competition as he gears up to face Cummings in April.
“I’m the easiest guy in the world to work with because I don’t have any criteria,” Alvey said. “They ask, ‘Hey, you want to fight this guy over here?’ I say, ‘Let’s do it!’ and that has always been the case. It’s led to some bad weight cuts, it’s led to some short-notice fights, but I think that’s why they like me so much, because I’m the guy that says ‘yes,’ always.”
To hear the full interview with Alvey, check out the video below.
Sam Alvey reveals challenging cut ahead of middleweight return: ‘I got about 40 pounds to go’
