Former King of the Cage 170 lb title John Alessio will be making his way back to the UFC after a long time away and will be replacing Jonathan Goulet against The Ultimate Fighter 1 winner Diego Sanchez. This will be Alessio’s first fight back at UFC 58 “Canada vs. USA” since UFC 26, which was before Zuffa took over the reigns of the UFC in June of 2000! Alessio was excited about his opportunity and said regarding being back in the UFC, “Man well it has been something I have been working for the last 3-4  years of my life so I am ecstatic right now!” In his first UFC bout he took on Pat Miletich in a lightweight championship title match, and was actually the first Canadian in recent memory to challenge for the UFC 170 pound title. In fact he is the only former TKO 170 lbs champ, KOTC 170 lbs champ, and challenger for UFC 170 lb title fighter ever!

He was originally scheduled to fight Joey Villasenor at the 185 pound weight class at King of the Cage in Prince George on Feb 11th but ironically, is now taking a fight against Villasenor’s teammate Diego Sanchez and is relishing the opportunity. “I think it is a good thing, they have kind of similar styles of attack on the ground, Villasenor has better standup then Sanchez, hits harder, but I am not even worried about the opponent change, they are both tough guys. I am just happy to be back in the UFC. I think the UFC is just a bigger opportunity, every fighters goal is to be in the UFC.”

On Sanchez Alessio added, “Well I think he is a tough fight of course, a victory over him will really boost me up and be a huge gain in my career. As far as how we match up, obviously I think I am the better striker, I think our submission skills are fairly even and you know I pretty much know the game plan, he is going to try to take me down and get the submission or hold me down, My game is to neutralize that, whether it is on the feet or on the ground, and impose my will.”

When asked about his thoughts on the US vs. Canada format Alessio says, “I think it is a cool idea, especially since there is a wealth of rising stars in Canada. It is good for Canadians and The US, to see Canadian fighters. I think it is a good idea.”

Alessio tells us he will be heading out to Utah with training partner Mac Danzig to work with Jeremy Horn and his camp in preparation for his second UFC fight. –MMARR-