UFC middleweight Sam Alvey thought the biggest challenge of his next fight would be a long plane flight and a weight cut.

Now, he can add air pollution.

One of 22 fighters displaced by the cancellation of UFC Fight Night 97 in the Philippines, Alvey was rebooked to appear in Mexico City at UFC Fight Night 98.

”I’ve got a few training partners who have fought in Mexico City before and they said the altitude is not great, but it’s the pollution that’ll get you,” said Alvey (28-8 MMA, 5-3 UFC), whose bout with Alex Nicholson (7-2 MMA, 1-1 UFC) was moved to the FS1-televised event at Mexico City Arena.

Alvey has taken unusual steps to deal with dirty air.

“I’ve been going to L.A. a lot to run the streets and breathe in some smog,” the 30-year-old resident of Murrieta, Calif., told MMAjunkie Radio. “I’m just trying to get the best training possible.”

It’s just one part of preparing for conditions that are less than ideal for a fighter forced to extend his training camp. Not only is Alvey training longer, but he’s training for a fight at 7,000-plus feet, which is bound to tax his conditioning.

“I’m doing as much uncomfortable training as I can right now,” he said. “Of course, my cardio isn’t going to be as good as it is at sea level, but 15 minutes shouldn’t be a problem.”

Alvey isn’t one to complain when it comes to his career, though. Fighting in the UFC isn’t something he ever saw himself doing in the first place, so he’s gracious for even being in his current position.

“When I started fighting, I had no intentions of the UFC – I didn’t know what the UFC was,” he said. “It was just somebody said I could fight, so I fought. Eventually, somebody said they’d pay me if I fought. I said, ‘Suckers, I’d have done it for free.’ Somewhere along the line, it turned into a career. I just love doing it.

“I always say, I’ll fight for free, but you’re going to have to pay me to cut weight. That’s the honest truth. I’ll fight anywhere, anytime. I don’t know how realistic it is, but I hope to get one more fight this year yet.”

If the UFC wants to keep Alvey smiling, the promotion should simply keep him busy.

“I think I was going to set a UFC record, it was going to be my fourth fight in less than four months,” he said. “But that card got scrapped and I got pushed back a month and now it’ll be four fights in five months, which isn’t nearly as impressive.”

Check out the video above.

For more on UFC Fight Night 98, check out the UFC Rumors section of MMAjunkie.

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