Eddie Alvarez will be facing Eduard Folayang next month at ONE Championship: Dawn of Heroes. Alvarez has been fighting professionally since 2003 and held titles in both Bellator and the UFC. His fights with Michael Chandler have made for “must-see” MMA and because of the way he began his career, he is known to many fans, especially in the northeast as “The Underground King”.
Recently, Alvarez hosted his own Q&A on Twitter using the hashtag, “askUGK” (Ask Underground King) and fans had some great questions like plans outside of fighting, favorite technique, and how he feels about fighting for One Championship. However, one question that came seemed to be revisited and that was, which loss would he like to avenge?
“Without a doubt,” Alvarez answered was his UFC 205 loss to Conor McGregor. UFC 205 was a significant event because it was the first UFC event in New York since the ban on MMA was lifted in 2016. Alvarez vs. McGregor was the main event in what would be a historic night for the UFC setting records for ticket sales and beginning the double champion trend when McGregor won the lightweight title from Alvarez.
At the time, it was thought that Alvarez would be too much for McGregor but by the second round, McGregor would score a TKO over Alvarez. While it is not something Alvarez, dwells on he said he is “much better than that.” As any martial artist at Alvarez’s level, losses are lessons and when asked what he took away from that fight, he said he learned, “to relax and not overreact, trust my instincts, don’t overthink,” which may have been what he did fighting for the first time in Madison Square Garden to a sold-out crowd.
Alvarez would fight three more times in the UFC before signing with ONE Championship. His first fight with Dustin Poirier was a “no-contest” due to knees landed to a downed opponent, the next one a win over Justin Gaethje, which was also “fight of the night”, then his rematch to Poirier that he lost. While he is no longer in the UFC it seems the fight with McGregor is the one that stands out the most from his seven losses. Hopefully, he can turn things around in August.
Do you think Alvarez could win in a rematch?
