Rafael Alves was set to battle at UFC Vegas 19 at February from Pat Sabatini but missed weight by nearly 12 lbs and could not fight.
It would have been Alves’ first fight since August 2020. Alves initially blamed food poisoning for missing the February bout but on Wednesday opened a bit more about what really happened.
“I really don’t like to speak too much about my private life, about what happened,” he told MMA Fighting. “I spoke about the salmon back afterward, but that was just me saying something about my weight overlook. What really happened was, on the afternoon of this weigh-ins, when I was nearly on weight, I decided not to fight since I was frustrated my spouse had suffered a miscarriage.”
Alves told the MMA website his wife endured the miscarriage in her fourth month of pregnancy and initially concealed it from him. He said he just found out of his sister that the Friday before the big fight.
“She was pregnant and ended losing our son, which prompted me to not fight anymore,” he added. “Therefore I ended up gaining weight so I could not fight. That is what happened.”
Alves said UFC was aware of his situation and his prowess in the Octagon throughout his first UFC fight in August 2020 was a part of the reason why he wasn’t let go.
The 30-year-old said his wife is doing much better and is looking forward to his struggle this weekend. He is on the card for UFC Vegas 27 and is set to move up against Russian Damir Ismagulov, who only has a reduction on his MMA resume.
