Thiago Alves, a coach at American Top Team and former UFC contender, faced defeat against Mike Perry at BKFC KnuckleMania 4, signalling his likely retirement. Alves expressed contentment with his career and plans to return to coaching after a challenging bout and personal loss.

Los Angeles, CA — It's fair to say that Saturday night didn’t unfold as Thiago Alves, a coach at American Top Team, had expected.

A former UFC title contender, Alves, who had informed Cageside Press beforehand that this fight would likely be his last, took on Mike Perry in the headline bout of BKFC KnuckleMania 4. Despite being a former champion in the promotion, Alves, a well-known figure, was defeated within about a minute of the fight.

So, what's next for “Pitbull?” Speaking with media outlets after the event, he confirmed that retirement is the next step.

“I’m going back into retirement. I was essentially already retired. I didn’t make a formal announcement or anything because I wanted to do one more. And this was it,” Alves explained. “Unfortunately, it didn’t go my way.”

“I’ve been fighting since I was 15 years old. I took this fight on eight weeks' notice, I lost my mother on April 5, so I’ve been through a lot. I’ve put my family through a lot already. I’m happy being a coach, living the life that I live. I’ve got no regrets. Unfortunately, it’s almost impossible to retire at the top when you’re competing at this level. But I’m content with the man I see in the mirror, and onto the next chapter.”

The conclusion to Saturday’s main event occurred when the referee stopped the action after a knockdown. Alves did manage to get back on his feet but seemed unsteady, prompting the referee's intervention. “I got knocked down, and I was getting up, and then the referee told me to ‘take a few steps.’ I did, and I suppose he didn’t like what he saw,” Alves recalled.

“I thought I would go out fighting, but that wasn’t the case today.”

After decades in combat sports, Thiago Alves has many cherished memories, but one in particular is his Fight of the Night-winning performance against Seth Baczynski in Orlando in 2014. “I felt a lot of pressure in that fight,” Alves reflected, noting that Baczynski had recently defeated Neil Magny, while Alves himself had been sidelined for two years. “If you’re absent from competition for two years at this level, you’re essentially forgotten. So I was incredibly proud of that moment, being able to fight and earn a Performance of the Night.”