White: Alves’ Return Should Be at 185

Thiago Alves’ tumultuous relationship with weight-cutting appears to have caught up with him.

UFC President Dana White had already exchanged words with the brawny Brazilian -- who dropped a shutout decision to Jon Fitch in their rematch at UFC 117 Saturday in Oakland, Calif., -- before he’d even stepped up to the podium at the post-fight press conference.

“We were just texting a few minutes ago and he said, ‘Hey, I’m sorry about that. I’ll come back stronger,’” said White. “I said, ‘Yeah, at 185 you will.’ He said, ‘No, I want to stay at 170.’

“It’s not like this guy has been off for a year,” added White. “He looked lethargic tonight. He looked slow. He doesn’t belong at 170. He belongs at 185 pounds.”

When asked if he’d mandate Alves move up a weight class, White vented all but an ultimatum.

“It’s bulls--- to have guys make weight and have guys not make weight, especially at this level,” he said. “When you’re in the UFC, your job is to make weight.”

White’s irritation with Alves’ second weight misstep in four appearances became evident as questioning steered toward Fitch’s reaction to his opponent’s struggle with the scale.

The American Top Team product had weighed in at 171.5 pounds the day before, but forfeited 20 percent of his purse (10 percent of which went to Fitch) rather than shed the last half-pound in the two hours allotted to him.

“It was only half a pound and the thing with California…the scales are digital and they round up to the half pound, so he could have been a fraction of quarter of a pound over and it would have rounded him up...” said Fitch, who also had issues making weight in the state against Diego Sanchez in 2007. “I knew he was probably pretty close. I was just really surprised that he was ready to donate the money away and not cut the weight.”

White wasn’t as diplomatic as Fitch, who earned another title shot for his efforts Saturday.

“That’s nice of Fitch to say, but everyone else made weight,” interjected White. “Everyone else made weight that day, so it wasn’t the scale. He didn’t come in on weight, period.”

The UFC honcho speculated that Alves, who’d weighed in eight pounds over against Matt Hughes in June 2008, had hit a wall.

“Believe me, I didn’t think Thiago didn’t not want to make weight. He can’t,” said White. “Could he have cut that half a pound? Maybe he couldn’t have. Maybe he cut so much weight that mentally, it would have broke him to go cut that last half a pound and that’s bull----…I guarantee he can make 185 and he’ll never have a problem at it.”

Weight issues aside, Fitch described Alves’ performance as fairly predictable.

“When somebody comes at you and they only have one objective in mind, it makes the fight easier,” said Fitch. “I knew he was trying to knock me out on the feet and I knew when I took him down or had him on the ground that he was just going to try to get up and get away.”

Next up on the division’s mainstage will be a championship bout between Georges St. Pierre and Josh Koscheck in December, culminating their turns as rival coaches on “The Ultimate Fighter 11,” which debuts in mid September on Spike TV.

When pressed about a potential scrap with his American Kickboxing Academy teammate Koscheck should he surpass St. Pierre, Fitch said he wouldn’t ponder the bout until after his Sept. 4 wedding. (Koscheck had previously said he would never fight Fitch.) However, White saw a glimmer of hope in Fitch’s non-answer.

“What you’re not hearing is ‘No,’” said White. “He’s not saying, ‘No, I will not fight Josh Koscheck.’”