Thiago Alves on why he didn't try to cut the half pound that made him miss weight and cost him $12k at UFC 117 via mmafighting.com - "It was just a half-pound, so I’m sure my body could have flushed it out. But I didn’t want to. I just wanted to concentrate on the fight. It was just easier for me to give up the money. Yes, we fight for money, but you also fight to win, and at the time, I was thinking I didn’t want to cut the weight. I was just focused on getting ready to fight. When you’re cutting weight and dehydrated, you don’t always think right. In the future, that won’t happen again. It can’t happen again."

On his rematch with Jon Fitch and his future: "I’ve been in that situation before, but I was just off being in the octagon again. I was wondering a lot, thinking a lot. Usually I don’t think when I’m in there, I just let it go on auto-pilot and do what I’m supposed to do. In that fight, I was guessing a lot, I was thinking a lot and I didn’t perform the way I should. In two years, I fought Georges St. Pierre and Jon Fitch. I had an eight-month break before fighting St. Pierre, then I had a 13-month break and fought Fitch. They controlled the fights, they won. It kills me because I know I can do better than that. I have all the potential to win those fights. But it wasn’t my time, and I wasn’t ready."

"I’m just glad this nightmare is over and I just want to fight again. Whoever they put in front of me, I’m happy to fight. I appreciate the support I’ve gotten. When things like this happen, you see people’s true colors. I don’t care about the people who’ve turned their backs on me. I just focus on the ones who appreciate me. That’s what’s important to me and I won’t let them down. I’m going to take this thing to the next level. I’m going to make it happen. I know what I’ve been through and I see things clearly now. Nothing’s holding me back."