Alessio hopes new attitude lands him in UFC
Posted March 20, 2012 7:48 pm.
This article is more than 5 years old.
The next Canadian lightweight we see in the UFC could be a fighter who has been there before.
John Alessio of Duncan, B.C., is coming off a unanimous decision victory over Ryan Healy at a local MMA event in Hamilton, Ont., on Friday and he hopes it was enough to earn him another shot in the UFC.
The 32-year-old, who made his UFC debut against Pat Miletich in 2000 and last fought in the UFC in October of 2006, says he’s a different person both inside and outside the cage today, and believes the biggest difference between now and his first stints in UFC is the dedication he shows in between his fights.
“Before I used to kind of be a party animal between fights and didn’t live a very healthy lifestyle, wasn’t very focused. I was kind of like, ‘oh I’ve got a fight, I better get in the gym and get in shape,’ not really worrying about getting better in between fights,” Alessio told sportsnet.ca.
“Now, I’ve been reborn. I consider myself a real student of the game. I love to train, I love learning new stuff and I didn’t do that before and I really felt like I missed a few years there of the learning curve. I just kind of plateaued and didn’t get any better, but now I’m getting better every time between fights.”
Alessio (34-14) has competed against top welterweights Diego Sanchez, Thiago Alves, Paul Daley and holds notable wins over Sean Pierson, Chris Clements and Luigi Fioravanti. He even challenged Carlos Condit for the WEC welterweight title in March 2007.
Besides his newfound attitude towards training, a major difference with Alessio these days is the fact he recently dropped to the 155-pound division.
Alessio — who is now 2-0 at lightweight and has won 10 of his last 11 bouts, finishing eight of his opponents during that stretch — said the weight cut has been beneficial both physically and mentally.
“I’m a lot more dedicated and focused months leading up (to a fight). It’s a whole process to get my weight down and be really healthy and dedicated,” Alessio said. “It allows me to focus a lot more the whole time on the fight and just completely dedicate myself to being a mixed martial artist.”
To make weight Alessio — who trains out of Xtreme Couture in Las Vegas — enlisted the help of famous MMA nutritionist Mike Dolce, creator of the popular Dolce Diet.
“The more I do it, the easier it’s going to get on my body. I’ve been following the Dolce Diet and doing all the right things. I’m getting down in weight and rehydrating properly and don’t feel like I’m getting any more tired out there than I was at 170,” said Alessio, who added that he enjoys nothing more than digging into a big steak and some French fries after a big win.
While Dolce has been a big help with his diet, he said his jiu-jitsu instructor Robert Drysdale has been equally as helpful with his technique inside the cage.
“(Drysdale) can break down a move and make it so simple and then give you a million variations of it. I always thought I was a good submission guy before I got with him but, he made me feel like a white belt and I realized whoa I’ve got a ton of stuff to learn,” said Alessio, who has 14 wins by submission.
Alessio said that the encouragement he gets from his coaches, nutritionist training partners, his wife and entire support staff during his training camps translates to how he fights.
“You go in there, even going into the third round and I was just thinking, ‘I got so many people loving me right now and behind me,’ so it just makes you want to dig deep and fight harder.”
And that motivation he feels is extrapolated whenever he fights in Canada.
“Canada has probably the best fight fans in the world,” Alessio said. “Canadians have always loved fighting; fighting in hockey, street fighting, everywhere. Canada’s always been a fan of good fights. They appreciate a good war out there and I get a lot of support from them. I think it’s something to do with home pride too. Being from this country … there’s just more riding on it.”
Alessio said he hopes a battle like his win over Healy is what the UFC is looking for in order to give him a second chance in the world’s No. 1 MMA promotion. He ended up with six stitches on the bridge of his nose, and his opponent –whom he dropped twice in the bout — needed stitches after the fight as well.
If it were up to Alessio, his next fight would be at UFC 149, scheduled to take place on July 21 in Calgary.
“It would be just amazing to fight in the UFC back in Canada, my home country. I’ve fought in Alberta a bunch of times, I’ve got a good fanbase there and hopefully this (win over Healy) is the catalyst that helps me get there, but time will tell. There’s really only two people that can make that choice and it’s (UFC president) Dana White and (UFC matchmaker) Joe Silva.
“Please put me on the card, I’m begging you. I don’t want to get on my knees like Georges St-Pierre did,” Alessio said while laughing. “Let’s do it, let’s get me on the card.”
Not only does Alessio want on the next Canadian UFC card, but he wants a piece of the top-ranked Canadian lightweight, Mark Bocek.
“I’d like to fight Bocek in there. If he’s Canada’s top lightweight, why not go for the top right off the bat and I’m ready.”