Dana White confirms, Alves vs. Fitch--winner gets Title Shot

Finally, a rematch between Thiago Alves and Jon, the consensus number two and three guys in the welterweight division, will taker place at UFC 117, serving as the co-main event of the evening.

While the match up has been discussed for as far back as UFC 107, nearly ten months ago, the 170-pound division standouts will finally opposite one another, on Saturday night.

Apparently, with a little more at stake, it was confirmed at the Pre-fight press conference by a Mr. Dana White, the UFC head honcho.

While some might be confused by the decision, as Alves has only just returned from a lengthy layoff that dates back nearly 13-months ago, when he was last seen in action in a losing effort to welterweight kingpin, Georges St. Pierre, at UFC 100, both we’re promised the title shot, without any discrepancies as to who may win, as some may view Jon Fitch as the more worthy number one contender.

The fight is actually a rematch that date’s back to 2006, which saw Fitch and Alves battle it out, with the AKA product gaining the upper hand in the second round, landing a vicious up-kick before following Thiago to the ground and finishing him off with Fitch’s now rarely seen ground and pound.

So, who doe’s everyone think will take this bout, and earn number one contender status (again)?
To me, I feel like Alves has been the more diverse fighter, who has really stepped up and evolved his game, and done well against top-competition (with the exception of Georges St. Pierre, but no shame there).

Meanwhile, Fitch has employed a more safe approach to most of his fights, and was even in trouble early against a lower tier fighter in Mike Pierce, after Pierce landed a strong hook, staggering Fitch in the latter part of the fight.