If you were watching last night's (Sat. September 16, 2017) UFC Fight Night 116 event from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, you were probably hoping for a little more of a competitive bout in the evening's co-main event.Rising welterweight star "Platinum" Mike Perry absolutely destroyed UFC newcomer Alex Reyes in the first round with some vicious knees, proceeding to call out ex-UFC welterweight king "Ruthless" Robbie Lawler afterwards. Reyes had come into his UFC debut on an epic win streak in which he had finished all of his opponents in his mixed martial arts (MMA) career, however, it wasn't enough to get him past the violent style of "Platinum." If you hadn't heard already, Reyes' spot was originally slated to be for ex-Bellator MMA champ Thiago Alves.Alves and Perry was a match-up that many fight fans were looking forward to seeing, however, the Brazilian decided to pull out of the fight due to the fact that Hurricane Irma was about to make landfall in his native Florida, and "Pitbull" decided to stay back home and ride the storm out with his family.After defeating Reyes, Perry claimed that Alves was 'ducking' him before calling out Lawler, something Alves didn't take too kindly to. He took to Instagram to explain why he pulled out of the fight, and promised that he had an 'a** whooping' with Perry's name on it:"This was my first hurricane as a husband and a father. The safety of my family it’s my duty and they will always come first!"Still, i did make every attempt suggested by the UFC Travel Team to get to Pittsburgh besides taking a “Road Trip” with my wife and my 13 months son when the whole state of FL was evacuating."All my flights continued to get cancelled from Friday am all the way to Tuesday 11 pm. After spending 6 hours at the airport with no real idea when I would make to the fight, having no electricity, sleeping in the gym with my family, and dealing with my dog dying from heat exhaustion … I decided to stay with my family and rebuild."I will never apologize for that, it’s not in my nature.“I have too much love and respect for my Sport, Family, Team and the MMA Fans to go to war not being 100% ready."Me and the UFC are in great terms, they understand my decision. I’ve been with the company for 12 years. I’ve known Sean Shelby for a very long time and he knows I always come to fight. I trained for 16 weeks bc this fight was originally happening in August."If I don’t fight I don’t get paid, so nobody suffers but Me and My Family. I’m ready and will stay ready. I should be rebooked by December. My support to everyone that went through Hurricane Irma. My thoughts and prays are with you #RipTanky

What are your thoughts on Alves' explanation as to why he pulled out of his fight against Perry in the co-main event of UFC Fight Night 116? Let us know your thoughts in the comments section below!

Do YOU want to write for GiveMeSport? Get started today by signing-up and submitting an article HERE: http://gms.to/writeforgms