Thiago Alves was issued a three-month suspension by the New York State Athletic Commission for missing weight at UFC 205. MMA Fighting confirmed following a report by ESPN’s Brett Okamoto.
"Pitbull" came in overweight for his lightweight clash with Miller on Nov. 12, forcing his opponent to stop cutting weight so the bout wouldn’t be canceled. Miller went on and defeated the former welterweight contender via unanimous decision at Madison Square Garden.
"It’s normal from the New York boxing commission to do that," Alves told MMA Fighting of his suspension, "but I’ll be back in March at 155 pounds."
Alves weighed in at 162.6 pounds for his lightweight debut, and blamed food poisoning.
"The food poisoning a week before the fight f--ked me," he said. "My weight wouldn’t go down. But I’m feeling better, and we’ll go to 155 again."
"I’m almost there," Alves said when asked if he’s feeling better already. "It was a rough weekend for me. And I got worse on Monday because I ate a lot after the fight, so the infection came back. But I’ll bounce back."
Alves, who once fought for the UFC 170-pound championship against Georges St-Pierre, decided to drop down to 155 pounds after a 13-8 run as a welterweight in the UFC. The 33-year-old fighter holds a 21-11 MMA record.