It's finally happening



On the rebound



"Relax, buddy—it will all be over soon."Those were final words Sam Alvey had for his opponent Elias Theodorou, who he will face at UFC Ottawa this weekend. They were expressed without Alvey's usual friendly tone, and took on a menacing pitch that hinted at the determination he will take into the Octagon with him on Saturday night.For Alvey, UFC Fight Night Ottawa can't come soon enough.Saturday night will be special for Alvey not only because it will see him return to the Octagon for the first time in 10 months, but also because he gets to face an opponent who initially refused to fight him."I'm stoked to get the fight because I called him out and he said no over and over again," Alvey said. "He then lost to Santos and couldn't say no anymore, so it's a fight I wanted and I'm really happy that it's finally happening."Alvey is disappointed that the usually outgoing Theodorou has refused to engage in any pre-fight antics. The Canadian declined an invitation to come on Alvey's podcast and remained silent after "The Ultimate Fighter" alum posted videos on social media that mocked Theodorou."I really thought if I poked him a little bit he would poke back but he's just said and done nothing," Alvey said. "After all, I'm pretty easy to poke fun at. I'm a smiley, pale, pasty ginger kid so it's kinda open for him to go to town on, but I just couldn't get him to fire back at me."It's a shame he's not come back with anything, but I'm kinda unique in the way I run my camp. I love this sport, it's part of my life. It's not so much something I do but actually who I am. I'm just being myself and he's just obviously not like that and likes to focus, focus, focus 100%. I'm a little looser that way."Although Alvey has been applying some humor to the situation, he's not to be taken lightly. The Canadian is looking for vengeance after suffering his first professional loss to Thiago Santos last December."I can't let him take this to a decision," Alvey said. "He's got some good kicks and good pressure, but he's kind of a decision fighter. He's willing to finish a fight if he gets the opportunity, but his style with his high energy and high pace means that I have to be able to keep up with him. And that's not always been a strength of mine. Saying that, I know I've had a great camp and I'm really ready to surprise him with how fast I am."In Alvey's last fight against Derek Brunson, he was involved in a controversial finish when the referee Mario Yamasaki called an end to the bout amid a heavy onslaught.Alvey is willing to accept he was losing at that point, but he believes referees should keep the fight going as long as possible. He even said he instructs referees to not stop his fights unless things are going seriously wrong for him."I don't think my fights should be stopped unless I'm close to death," Alvey said. "I'm a cage fighter; I'm trained to get beat up, and it's part of the game. It's what I put eight weeks into training for so I tell them, 'Please give me every chance.' Fair enough, if you see my eyes roll up into the back of my head, then maybe consider stopping it, but anything short of that—no way."What if the Frankie Edgar versus Gray Maynard fight had been stopped during that first round? We would have never seen one of the greatest fights of all time. Half of Dan Henderson's fights could have been ruined if they had been stopped the first time he got hit. I'm not someone who gets hit a lot, but I'm willing to take one to give one. I promise you if I'm just allowed to continue it will be just a phenomenal fight."Alvey will hope to sustain as little damage as possible on Saturday night. After a long time on the sidelines, he said he'll be ready to jump back in given any opportunity."I'm getting back in that cage as fast as I can," Alvey said. "If someone drops out at UFC 200, then just call me up. I'll fight 185lbs, 205lbs or wherever they want me. My goal by the end of this year is that I want to coach a series of 'The Ultimate Fighter' and I want to coach it against Robert Whittaker."I've been on a tear of beating up TUF winners and I've been doing pretty well since I flopped out of my own season. I see Whittaker as the top of the food chain and I think a season of TUF with me as a coach and him as a coach may be very memorable. I'd love to fight him, but you're gonna have to tune in and find out to see if I call him out after I win Saturday night."