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Marcirley Alves is one win away from a PFL World Tournament title. | š·: PFL MMA
Marcirley Alves was little more than a blip on the radar when the Professional Fighters League season set sail in April. Much has changed in the months since.
The surging 26-year-old Brazilian will square off with Justin Wetzell when their bantamweight final buoys PFL 2025 World Tournament 9 this Friday at Bojangles Coliseum in Charlotte, North Carolina. There, Alves seeks to complete an unlikely march to the promised land that began with his entry into the tournament as a short-notice substitution. āI was going to be in the first or second bout of the undercard, as a backup,ā he told Sherdog.com, ābut God knows what He does.ā Alves upset Leandro Higo in the quarterfinals, where he filled in for Josh Rettinghouse, eked out a split decision over his respected countryman and announced his arrival as a genuine threat in the 135-pound field.
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āIt was a huge turn of events, and I ended up fighting Higo,ā he said. āHeās a really good guy. We have shared saunas and hung out together at other events, but this is our job. What can we do?ā
A unanimous decision over Jake Hadley in the semifinals two months later sent Alves to the tournament championship, where a date with a hard-nosed American awaits. Wetzell, 33, progressed in the draw with back-to-back decisions over Kasum Kasumov and Madno Gutierrez. The Elevation Fight Team product finds himself on a five-fight winning streak ahead of his most significant opportunity to date. Consider Alves unimpressed.
āTo be honest, I feel that Higo was much more dangerous than my next opponent,ā he said. āHigo has more submission wins and takedown skills, and I managed to break his game. I watched Justinās last two fights. He does the same thing all the time, but I donāt believe it will happen to me. Iām training hard on takedown defense. I have good wrestling. I havenāt needed to use it, but I can. I train everything. I believe Iām going to beat him, no doubt. Iām confident. Iām training well. Iām doing my best. Iāll show up and do my job.ā
Alves chooses to embrace the opportunity to shore up weaknesses in his game, especially in areas from which many others have shied away.
āI like it,ā he said. āI canāt speak for others, but I think itās cool. Itās true that my past losses revolved around the wrestling game, so I started putting a lot of time into it because thatās where people were breaking my game. I put a lot of effort into training my wrestling and jiu-jitsu, so Iām confident. Iām not afraid if they take me down. Thereās always a jiu-jitsu move to get out or to get a submission. Iāll do my job right. Itāll be fine.ā
Such strong self-belief was born out of the countless hours Alves put in at the Chute Boxe affiliate fronted by Joao Emilio in Bauru, Brazil. Paulo Ledesma, Clayton Barreto, Joao Paulo de Carvalho and Felipe Belloni all played integral roles in his preparation.
āWe have a full team,ā Alves said. āPutting all the pieces together, we achieve complete MMA.ā
The only questions that remain involve whether or not Alves can finish the job, capture a PFL championship and nail down a $500,000 payday. He understands the stakes.
āIām very calm,ā he said. āThe money will help a lot, but the title will open even more doors.ā
This article first appeared at Recent News on Sherdog.com
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