Sam Alvey knows his UFC roster spot in on the line when he opens the stacked UFC 249 card against Ryan Spann.
Alvey is currently on a three-fight losing streak where he lost by TKO to Antonio Rogerio Nogueira and Jimmy Crute and most recently dropped a decision to Klidson Abreu. Against Spann, “Smile’n Sam” is the biggest underdog on the card but isn’t paying attention to any of that.
“Apparently, I’m a huge underdog, like almost +300,” Alvey said to BJPENN.com. “I’m going to make my fans a lot of money. I’m surprised I’m this big of an underdog.”
Although Spann is a rising contender, Alvey is eager to share the Octagon with him. Yet, this was not his original opponent as the 33-year-old was supposed to fight Khalil Rountree. But, Alvey admits he does like this style matchup against Spann even though he’ll be the smaller fighter.
“It’s not frustrating at all. I’m getting the opportunity to go to work. There are millions of people out of work due to this. So I’m getting to go to work and it is a wonderful opportunity,” he said. “It’s a completely different fight. I was going from being the taller guy to the far shorter guy. But, he’s got different threats, he’s going to kick me less which is nice but he’ll choke me more. I’m looking forward to it.”
For Sam Alvey, he knows the pressure is on him as if he loses he thinks the UFC will cut him. Although he has fights left on his contract, he knows a four-fight losing skid will likely be the end of his UFC career.
“I’m going into it as do-or-die. I beat him or I get cut and my life changes,” he said. “I’m still very much looking forward to this fight and having the pressure on this fight.”
In the end, Sam Alvey is confident he’ll be able to hand Spann his first UFC loss and snap his seven-fight winning streak. Not only does Alvey think he’ll win, but he suspects he’ll get a stoppage win.
“I’m going to submit him in the third round,” Alvey concluded.
Who do you think will win the fight between Sam Alvey and Ryan Spann at UFC 249?
This article first appeared on BJPENN.com on 5/8/2020.