Food for thought: Can Sam Alvey challenge for the light heavyweight title?

UFC Fighter Sam Alvey has enjoyed one heck of a mixed martial arts career. “Smilen” Sam as he is more affectionately known by will step into the octagon for the 18th time as he takes on legendary Brazilian fighter Antônio Rogério Nogueira at UFC Fight Night Sao Paulo.

Few fighters have enjoyed a lengthy UFC run like Alvey. At 32 years old the native of Manitowoc, Wisconsin is showing no signs of slowing down. To the contrary, Alvey has had a career resurgence as of late. 2018 has been a year of change for “Smilen” Sam. Alvey has mostly competed in the middleweight division and he has found a reasonable amount of success there as well. However, he decided to make a change. A change that many fighters are now welcoming with open arms.

The Team Quest protege decided to take a fight a weight class up in the light heavyweight division and Alvey hasn’t looked back since. “Smilen” Sam is 2-0 since switching divisions and he looks to make it a perfect three for three this Saturday night (Sept. 22 2018) in Sao Paulo, Brazil as he takes on Nogueira. 205 pounds is a much more natural weight class for Alvey who stands every bit of 6’2. And his performances are echoing that sentiment.

But can “Smilen” Sam really challenge for a UFC title?

MMA is a crazy unpredictable sport. Just when you think you have a handle on what’s going on the combat sports Gods flip the script. Personally, I would love to see Alvey challenge for the light heavyweight title. But if I’m being honest, I just don’t think Alvey matches up well with the current top 5 in the 205-pound division. That being said I think Alvey can compete with most of the guys in the top 15 and I even think he could pull off an upset or two. But a championship may be just out of his reach.

Regardless “Smilen” Sam will continue his quest for UFC gold this weekend as he takes on Rogério Nogueira at UFC Fight Night Sao Paulo.

Mike Straus

Mike Straus @AKAstraus21 is a credentialed MMA journalist and a member of the MMAJA. He has been a fan of the sport since its inception and has been covering the sport professionally for three years. In the past, he has produced content for Fansided's Cagepages, mma-media.com, and Combatpress.com. He currently contributes for MyMMANews.com, he is a staff writer for Cagesidepress.com, and LowKickMMA.com. He most recently began writing for BJPenn.com.

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