Alongside his first statement on this past weekend’s result, Eddie Alvarez has revealed the brutal injury he sustained at BKFC KnuckleMania V.
Alvarez, a former UFC lightweight champion, fell to a negative 1-2 record under the Bare Knuckle Fighting Championship at Saturday’s high-profile event in his home city of Philadelphia.
After splitting his first two outings in 2023 — defeating Chad Mendes before a corner stoppage gave Mike Perry victory at his expense — “The Underground King” headlined the fifth installment of KnuckleMania opposite fellow former UFC fighter Jeremy Stephens.
After three rounds, Alvarez was deemed unable to continued by his corner, who chose to wave off the contest. That decision was widely supported, and anyone who questioned it likely won’t be anymore after seeing the damage “Lil Heathen” dealt his opponent’s way.
In a recent post on Instagram, the defeated 41-year-old displayed an X-ray image showing the gruesome jaw break he suffered at the hands of Stephens.
“Got hit with a kill shot in the first or second … I did my best to keep a Gameface and ignore it,” Alvarez wrote. “By the 3rd round the damage was too much. Please understand how bad I wanted this and what I sacrificed in order to Win, it wasn’t my night. Bare Knuckle is as real as it gets. Unpredictable, Fast Pace and violent …. Congrats to all the new Up and coming Philly stand outs @cody__fights @teamgarbarino @theanimalbkfc @hevweightbrady on their wins. You Men are the Future and made Philadelphia Proud, I’m soo Happy for our City and the future of our Combat Athletes.
“Whether I win or lose is not as important as Philadelphia/Pennsylvania slowly becoming the most dominate Area in the country for Combat Sports. @bareknucklefc is the fastest Growing and will be the Greatest Show on Earth .. Mark my words
Alvarez didn’t provide an update on his fighting future in the caption of the post.
Prior to a 13-month layoff, “The Underground King” had suffered two orbital fractures during his defeat to “Platinum” Perry in Salt Lake City.