Losing night after night isn’t easy for any athlete, but veteran UFC fighter Sam Alvey’s winless streak is something to behold. Alvey, whose nickname is “Smile’n,” hasn’t won a fight since 2018. After going 0-7-1 in his last 8 fights, if Alvey loses tomorrow night against Michal Oleksiejczuk, he’ll own the longest winless streak in UFC history. So why is Alvey still smiling? That’s the question Ryan Hockensmith wanted to answer when he traveled to Alvey’s farm in Tennessee where he lives with his wife, a former America’s Next Top Model winner, six kids under the age of 10, and a menagerie of animals. What emerges is a portrait of a fighter whose life philosophy flies in the face of every cliche we’ve come to expect from an athlete. 

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