It's amazing what happens when Thiago Alves makes weight, isn't it? Looking as energetic as we've seen in quite some time, Alves used precision, disciplined striking to his advantage along with impressive front leg kicks to beat John Howard at UFC 124 in Montreal on Saturday night.

Alves won by unanimous decision. All three judges scored it 30-27.

Quite a difference from Alves' last fight against Jon Fitch, where he chose not to lose one half-pound to get to 171 pounds (the limit for welterweight). Alves weighed in For UFC 124 on Friday at 171 pounds.

On fight night, he was energetic and active. No signs of sluggishness. No signs of exasperation. Just the Thiago Alves we all remember from his rise to No. 1 contender in 2009.

In addition to absorbing several dozen kicks to his front leg, Howard (14-6) had trouble stopping Alves' right hand. Alves (23-6) continuously landed cleaned shots to his face, especially at the 2:50 mark of the third round. Alves dropped Howard with a big straight right. Howard popped back up, but the round and the fight already belonged to Alves.

As a random aside, someone tell Howard to get on YouTube and watch LL Cool J's performance at the MTV VMAs in the early 1990s. Then he'd know to use spray deodorant instead of roll-on. 

UFC 124 fight-week photos
UFC 124 live video of post-fight press conference at 1 a.m. EDT

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