It’s safe to say Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) lightweight king Eddie Alvarez is very confident heading into his title defense opposite Conor McGregor at UFC 205 on Nov. 12 from New York City. After all, Alvarez possesses the wrestling pedigree and elite conditioning to push “Notorious” further than he’s ever been pushed before.
Leading up to his massively high-profile bout opposite McGregor, Alvarez has begun to open up verbally more than he ever has. In fact, the lightweight champion recently took a page out of Mystic Mac’s book to predict his victory for UFC 205.
“I think we do it under the nine-minute mark,” Alvarez told FOX Sports earlier this week. “Big, big heavy shots, he goes down and then submission.”
“I can see it ending much like the (Nate) Diaz fight where I land the heavy shot and then I finish with a submission.”
The “nine-minute mark” means Alvarez would finish McGregor inside of two rounds. That may be a lofty expectation considering the Irishman is at his best for the first 10 minutes of action, but it’s a plausible scenario when dealing with a well-rounded champion like Alvarez.
And with McGregor aiming to finish “The Underground King” in under five minutes, it seems very likely that their UFC 205 main event showdown from Madison Square Garden will be short lived.