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UFC’s Warlley Alves stepped out of comfort zone after realizing he became ‘mediocre athlete’

Warlley Alves was seen as championship material after winning the third season of The Ultimate Fighter: Brazil and picking up UFC wins over Alan Jouban, Nordine Taleb and Colby Covington, but that’s when things started to go downhill for him.

Four years after his first career loss—a huge upset defeat to Bryan Barberena, which was followed by a decision loss to Kamaru Usman—Alves decided he’d had enough.

Kept away from the octagon nearly a full year after a complete biceps tear in February 2020, the 170-pounder re-enters the cage Wednesday to compete against Tunisian prospect Mounir Lazzez in the co-main event of UFC Fight Island 8 in Abu Dhabi.