Despite Fake-Tan Flap, Sam Alvey Could Still Have 'It' in UFC Middleweight Class
If Sam Alvey landed in hot water last weekend at UFC Fight Night 65, at least it was in the most Sam Alvey way possible.
The happy-go-lucky middleweight starched Dan Kelly in just 49 seconds during an undercard bout on Saturday, before getting on the mic to challenge happy-go-lucky middleweight Elias Theodorou toโwait for itโa hair vs. hair match.
"I would love a chance to knock his hair plugs outโฆ,โ Alvey said later, sharing some rare cross words with Submission Radio. โI don't think he's going to take me up on it because I don't think he thinks he's going to win, but [if] he beats me, I shave my head, and I hope that when I beat him he shaves his head. It's a real bet. Take it."
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The knockout of Kelly amounted to a kind of statement win for Alveyโnot quite definitive proof he belongs here, but at least enough to convince us to take notice of this offbeat knockout artist from Waterford, Wisconsin. The Theodorou call-out was also pitch perfect, proving that, aside from having lightning in his fists, Alvey might be a decent matchmaker too.
The trouble was that he did it all with a big, fat violation of UFC rules stenciled across his chest. See, he appeared at the event with an advertisement for his sponsor Perfect Tan literally tanned across his chest.
"Fighters definitely can't do that," said Tom Wright, Managing Director for UFC Operations in Canada, Australia and New Zealand, viaย MMA Fighting.com's Marc Raimondi. "It's against our policy. You can put your sponsors on your shorts, you can put your sponsors on your banner, but you can't put your sponsors on your body."
With the UFCโs sponsor policy suddenly front and center after specific terms of its new partnership with Reebokย were released last week, this doesnโt seem like a good time for a young up-and-comer to start breaking those particular regulations.
But that's just Alvey. Everything about the guy is a tad off-kilter.
As MMA Junkieโs Ben Fowlkes noted this week, heโs plays himself as โSmilinโ Samโ in a sport full of glowering tough guys. Heโs a veteran of nearly 35 fights, mostly on the independent circuit, and is married to a woman who was once a contestant on Americaโs Next Top Model.
The couple occasionally used to bring one of their young children to Alveyโs pre-UFC fights, wearing cartoonish, giant earmuff hearing protectors. So, yeah, itโs always been clear the good-natured fighter marches to his own, oddly syncopated beat.
He appeared as a welterweight on Season 16 of The Ultimate Fighterย but lost in the first round and wasnโt booked at the showโs live finale. Instead, he returned to the independent circuit for a five-fight swing (going 4-1) and in the meantime got summarily overshadowed by reality show castmates like Colton Smith, Neil Magny and Mike Ricci.
Alvey got his first real crack at UFC action beginning last summer and has quickly gone on a 3-1 run. His three victoriesโcoming in a row since a loss to Tom Watson in his Octagon debutโhave all been by first-round knockout, capped by Saturdayโs blitz of the 37-year-old Kelly.
He hasn't faced anything resembling elite competition in the Octagon yet, but what we have seen from him has been fairly impressive. Since that loss to Watson, nobody has been able to last four minutes in the cage with Alvey. When his fights are over, while his opponents are still slumped on the stool and trying to get their wits back, he's flashing his trademark smile into the camera, forcing us all to wonder just how far his weird charisma can take him.ย
With any luck, Alvey will survive this spray-tan gaffe without much of aโcough, coughโblemish on his relationship with the UFC. It was a totally harmless bit of tomfoolery, after all, even if it did draw attention to one of the fight company's current sore spots. Perhaps in time it will even be recognized as just another quirk to add to his already eccentric persona.
And letโs be clear: On the personality front, Alvey does have a certain something that makes him one to watch in the 185-pound division. Itโs lofty, perhaps, to think heโll ever be able to compete with the Chris Weidmans, Luke Rockholds and Jacare Souzas of the world, but heโs not completely anonymous either.
In a world where the UFC keeps more than 500 fighters on its roster and has more than 45 shows on the docket for this year, thatโs an accomplishment in and of itself. The trick for fighters in MMAโs new jam-packed reality is simply to stand out from the crowd, especially now that we know theyโre all about to start dressing alikeย too.
In a sea of competing talent, Alvey is unique. Heโs doing something different, and so far heโs doing it well. Limited as they have been to date, heโs making the most of his opportunitiesโand that includes both serving up highlight-reel knockouts and making more of his post-fight interviews than just a shrug, a shout-out for his sponsors and run-of-the-mill platitudes about how heโll fight anybody the UFC wants him to fight.
Regardless of where he ultimately ends up, it's clear this guy gets it. He knows how to play the game.
His call-out of Theodorou was genius in that it was both timely and memorable. A few days removed from an event where some 12 fights all aired on the UFCโs digital subscription service, two things now stand out: Stipe Miocicโs main event victory over Mark Hunt, and Alvey.
In todayโs landscape? For an undercard fighter? Thatโs a home run.
There should be some interest now surrounding Alveyโs climb through the middleweight ranks.ย So long as he can stay out of the frying pan with his bosses, there is no reason why his career canโt turn into a modest, little controlled wildfire.
