UFC 198's Warlley Alves eager to take out 'the guy who beat Sage Northcutt'

When it comes to Brazilian fighters, Warlley Alves appears to be one with the talent for a long, sustainable and perhaps even championship-caliber career under the UFC banner.

At 25 Alves (10-0 MMA, 4-0 UFC) has already built an undefeated record, which includes four straight wins in the octagon. He has the chance to make it five in a row when he takes on Bryan Barberena (11-3 MMA, 2-1 UFC) in a welterweight bout at UFC 198.

UFC 198 takes place May 14 at Arena da Baixada in Curitiba, Parana, Brazil. The main card airs on pay-per-view following prelims on FOX Sports 1 and UFC Fight Pass, though the bout order hasn’t been finalized.

Alves carries plenty of momentum into the event, as will Barberena. “Bam Bam” scored a huge upset over another hyped and undefeated fighter when he submitted Sage Northcutt at UFC on FOX 18 in January. Alves plans to claim that momentum for himself.

“I’m going to fight the guy who beat Sage Northcutt,” Alves recently said. “He can take a lot of punishment. We’re training a lot to get there and leave with the victory and give a great show to everyone in Curitiba and everyone that’s watching.”

Barberena may have forced Northcutt to tap out, but he’ll have a much tougher time doing it against Alves, who’s a submission magician in his own right. Alves has earned three of his four UFC victories by guillotine choke, with the most recent an 86-second one of Colby Covington at December’s UFC 194 event in Las Vegas.

Moreover, Alves said he doesn’t know what threat Barberena could present that he hasn’t seen while spending countless hours training alongside the likes of former Strikeforce champion Ronaldo Souza, former UFC champion Anderson Silva and others.

“‘Jacare’ (Souza) and Anderson Silva beat me up a lot to get where I’m at,” Alves said. “So I train a lot, I train hard, and I want to show the best with this phase I’m going through. … We work very hard to be able to continue with this sequence of victories. My routine has always been the same: I train, I work, and I go to church. And for me that’s enough.”

The UFC welterweight division is arguably the most difficult in the sport in which to break through and become a contender. Alves is off to a good start, though, and he said he doesn’t think it’ll be long before he’s fighting ranked opposition, and eventually, the champion.

“For me to be champion, in two or three years, I intend on fighting for the title (and) being in the top five,” Alves said. “It’s a dream I’ve had since I was a kid, and I’m only going to stop when I get there.”

For more on UFC 198, check out the UFC Rumors section of the site.