Eddie Alvarez believes he can present problems for Khabib Nurmagomedov.
A lot has been made over the performance of Nurmagomedov at UFC 223. Either you praise him for outstriking Al Iaquinta on his way to capturing lightweight gold, or you believe his stand-up is “amateurish” as Joe Rogan put it and criticize him for not scoring on every takedown attempt.
Alvarez believes there are holes in “The Eagle’s” game that he can exploit. “The Underground King” is a former lightweight champion himself. Now that Conor McGregor and Tony Ferguson are out of the way for different reasons, Alvarez is throwing his name in the hat of potential contenders.
Speaking to the media, Alvarez explained why he’s a good choice (via MMAJunkie.com):
“I know, 100 percent, matchup-wise, wrestling, stylistically, I watch the champion fight a lot. I am the guy to beat the champion. Not Dustin Poirier. Not Conor McGregor. Not anyone. I understand who I lost to, who I won (against). I’m the best style matchup. The champion don’t want to fight me right now. He knows. He’s going to pick off the wounded gazelles one by one. He’s going to take the good style matchups. I understand. Take them. I’ll be waiting in the end.”
Alvarez currently sits at the third spot on the official UFC lightweight rankings. His last bout was a third-round knockout victory over Justin Gaethje. With McGregor and Ferguson out of the picture, Alvarez would seem like a no brainer for the next title shot if it weren’t for the controversy surrounding his bout with Dustin Poirier.
Back in May 2017, “The Underground King” and “The Diamond” went one-on-one. Both men took turns landing some clean shots that had the other staggered. The fight ended when Alvarez connected with two illegal knee strikes. The bout was ruled a No Contest. Some believe Alvarez should’ve been disqualified.
While Alvarez is known for his striking, it’s his wrestling that often times allows him to go to war on the feet. That can be credited to his success as an amateur wrestler. It is well known that Nurmagomedov’s bread and butter is in the grappling department.
Should Eddie Alvarez get the next lightweight title opportunity?
