After a 4-0-1 run outside the UFC that has seen him capture the Karate Combat heavyweight belt, Sam Alvey is “Smilin” once again. But will that smile last through his next bout against kickboxing killer Tyron Spong?
According to Karate Combat, Alvey and Spong are set to fight at the promotion’s Dubai event on May 2nd.
Spong holds an insane 107-7-1 record in kickboxing and has faced a who’s who of the biggest names in the sport including Gokhan Saki, Jerome Le Banner, Ray Sefo, Alistair Overeem, Melvin Manhoef, Peter Aerts, and Remy Bonjasky. In 2015 he switched to boxing and is 14-0 under sweet science rules.
A foray into MMA in 2022 saw him lose via TKO to Sergei Kharitonov, but now Spong returns to the ruleset that established him as a combat sports titan to see if he can take Sam Alvey’s belt.
“Smilin” Sam is best known to MMA fans as the guy who skidded out of the UFC on a nine-fight winless streak. But while he hasn’t changed his ways much — he still shows up all roly poly to fights and clinches too much — he’s managed to win three fights in Karate Combat, taking the heavyweight belt in 2023 and defending it once.
The only negative blip on his record was a fight that saw Antonio Arroyo KO him with a headbutt. That would be ruled a No Contest and Alvey would go on to win the rematch. But can Alvey survive an onslaught from the mighty Tyrone Spong? Fans on X (formerly Twitter) don’t think so.
“Spong was meant to box Usyk at one point instead he gets to kill Sam Alvey in Karate Combat,” one wrote.
“Spong is a killer but hasn’t fought in a while,” another wrote. “If he kept up his training then this is not going to end well for Alvey.”
“Tyrone Spong might legitimately put Sam Alvey in a coma!”
Spong is only 39 — one year older than Alvey — but has a lot of mileage on him. Will that be the deciding factor? Or are we about to witness Sam’s Karate Combat winning streak come to a violent end?
