Thiago Alves is one step from achieving a dream.

The step, however, is one of monumental proportions. To become the UFC welterweight champion, he must find a way to beat Georges St. Pierre.

Alves (16-3-0) is tentatively scheduled to face the 27-year old Canadian juggernaut for his 170-pound crown July 11 in Las Vegas. The fight will most likely be the main event of a blockbuster UFC 100 card.

While others might look upon this opportunity with trepidation, Alves, 25, relishes the chance to etch his name among the young sport’s greats. And that’s even after watching cageside Jan. 31 while B.J. Penn wound up on the wrong end of a GSP beating.

“Once he is on his A-game, if you don’t know how to break it, if you don’t have a strong head, it’s going to be really hard for you to win the fight,” Alves said.

A native of Fortaleza, Brazil, who now lives in Coconut Creek, Fla., Alves recognizes the need to negate St. Pierre’s tendency to apply insurmountable pressure early in fights.

“Once Georges St. Pierre is on his game, it’s kind of hard for you to stop him,” said the American Top Team product. “It’s not just because it’s Georges. I think any fighter, if you don’t fight your fight, you’re going to be in trouble against anybody, especially against somebody like Georges St. Pierre.”

You can find yourself in trouble against GSP before you even reach the cage, according to the challenger.

“Most of the guys that Georges has fought … they are pretty tough guys, but every time someone steps in against Georges, they just, I don’t know, they respect him too much.”

St. Pierre (18-2-0) was accused of mental weakness following his April 2007 loss to Matt Serra. Penn also dogged him as a quitter in the buildup to their recent rematch. Alves doesn’t buy into either criticism.

“He’s the champion. There is no way the champion can be a quitter,” Alves said. “I don’t think he can take a punch as well as the other fighters, but I don’t think he is a quitter at all.”

With a statement like that, it isn’t hard to figure out what kind of game plan a noted striker like Alves will want to employ against St. Pierre.

“It’s an MMA fight. We’re fighting with small gloves. Anything can happen,” Alves acknowledged, “but I just don’t think that he’s going to out-strike me. I just don’t think that he is going to knock me down.”

A stand-up war anyone?

Not so fast.

Although St. Pierre is one of the prototypical next-generation MMA fighters with skills in every department, it is his wrestling ability that has set him apart from the rest of the division. And it should be noted that top-level wrestlers like former NCAA champion Josh Koscheck as well as standouts Jon Fitch and Matt Hughes have been out-wrestled by the Canadian phenom.

“You are going to get taken down at one point or the other in the fight,” Alves declared. “The thing is not letting him impose his will, not letting him fight his fight. If you’re taken down, do everything you can to get up. And try to take him down too, put him in an uncomfortable spot, the spot he has never been in before.”

Easier said than done perhaps, but it’s Alves’ strategy.

“That’s going to be the key. I’m going to fight my fight and I’m not letting him get comfortable at all at any second of the fight.”

One thing Alves could have going for him come fight night is a weight advantage. St. Pierre is a massive welterweight and reportedly entered the cage at 187 pounds for his tilt with Penn, who weighed right around the 170-pound limit.

“I think I’ll be a litter bigger than him,” Alves said with a chuckle. “Usually when I fight I’m around 195, 190. … That day I will be probably 195, 200 almost because I’m going to eat so much.”

With a little more than five months to get ready for the biggest fight of his career, Alves will have plenty of time to hone his physical skills. The bigger question will be whether he can maintain his resolve against the constant questioning he will surely find from fans and media alike in the lead-up to the much-anticipated bout.

If he is going to have a chance to dethrone one of the best in the business, he will have to believe in himself while many, if not most, will dismiss him.

“You got to respect the guy and everything, but once they are in front of you, you have to try to put up a fight. Don’t get me wrong. It’s Georges St. Pierre -- he’s really good,” Alves said. “Maybe, maybe, I don’t know, maybe he’s that good, but I don’t think so. I don’t think so.”

Thiago, Georges and the rest of us should get our answer come July 11.