Rafael Alves Blames Salmon On 11.5lb Weight Miss
Rafael Alves has revealed the reason behind him missing weight by 11.5lbs ahead of UFC Vegas 19 – the biggest weight miss in company history.
Alves was supposed to make his UFC debut at featherweight against Patrick Sabatini. However, the fight was cancelled when he weighed in at 157.5 – a weight that would have seen him miss the lightweight limit, never mind featherweight.
The 30-year-old has now revealed that his crazy weight miss was caused by food poisoning he got from eating salmon.
“I ate salmon yesterday and fell ill, (had) vomit and diarrhea, so the doctor said I had to treat it with (drinking) water,” he told MMA Fighting via text message. “I only had (4.4 pounds) left to cut, (but) when I drank water my weight went up and got stuck, so the doctor didn’t clear me to fight. But God owns everything and He knows what He does.”
Alves will remain with the UFC but is set to compete at lightweight moving forward.
“Sean Shelby said that health is what matters now,” Alves said. “He told me this has happened to champions before, and told (me) to fight at 155 and come back stronger. They won’t cut me because they had to change opponents and they were searching for a new one, some said they would fight at 155 and others at 145, so I didn’t focus on the guy I was fighting nor my weight. But I’m going to fight at 155 now. I’m focused and nothing will stop me.”
“I know a lot of people are criticizing me, but I don’t care,” Alves added. “Jesus was God’s son and he was criticized despite all his power, so imagine me, a flawed man on Earth? But thank God the UFC hasn’t said they will cut me, so I’ll be back soon. They said I’m a showman that will give the UFC a lot of profit.”
Do you think food poisoning is the reason Rafael Alves missed weight by 11.5lbs?
