Aging Alves ‘Going Back To Retirement’

Stick a fork in him, he’s done.

Thiago Alves fought like a 40 year-old veteran looking for a paycheck in the BKFC “KnuckeMania 4” main event last weekend in Los Angeles, Calif., which is a dangerous game to play in combat sports, especially against a cavity creep like Mike Perry, because every fight carries the risk of serious injury … or worse.

That’s why the former UFC welterweight title challenger is punching out.

“I’m going back to retirement,” Alves said at the “KnuckleMania 4” post-fight press conference. “I pretty much was already retired, but didn’t make an announcement, anything because I wanted to do one more, and this was it. Unfortunately it didn’t go my way, but I’ve been fighting professionally since I was 15 years old. I took this fight on eight-weeks notice, and I lost my mother on April 5. So I’ve been through a lot, and I put my family through a lot already. I’m happy being a coach, living the life that I live, but I got no regrets. Unfortunately, it’s almost impossible to go out on top when you’re competing at this level, but I’m happy with the man I see in the mirror.”

Hopefully he sees himself and not Josh Koscheck.

Alves previously teased a return to MMA after everyone at BKFC “forgot his name” but it appears that comeback is also off the table at this stage of his career. The Brazilian finishes with a 23-15 record in cage fighting and a 2-1 mark in gloveless combat, having scored BKFC wins over Julian Lane and Ulysses Diaz.

As for Perry, he’s moving on to the next big challenge — or the next big “Gorilla.”