ONE Championship lightweight Eddie Alvarez has promised fans that he will be returning to his roots when he next steps into the cage as he looks to work his way back into title contention.
The 36-year-old has had mixed success following his 2005 loss to Connor Mcgregor, which saw the Irishman capture Alvarez’s UFC lightweight title. Since that night in New York, Alvarez has gone 2-2 with 1 NC.
A high profile move to ONE attracted much fanfare among media and fans until a first-round KO loss to Russia’s Timofey Nastyukhin dimmed the shine of Alvarez’s promotional debut. Alvarez bounced back from that defeat with a win over former ONE lightweight champion Edward Folayang, and the Philadelphia native is now targeting a return to the top via the same method that got him there in the first place: pure aggression.
“I’ve really been trying to become the move-forward, reckless fighter that got me all the titles that I have today,” Alvarez said in an interview with ONE.
“The idea of thinking too much and hesitating, that’s become something more than I want it to, and I want to get back to moving forward and having a reckless style.”
‘ The Underground King’ became a fan favorite with his exciting take-no-prisoners style, and it looks like Alvarez is prepared to take the risks that come when treading the path of full-throttle aggression.
“[I want to get back to] going forward and doing damage. That’s kind of where I’m resetting where my mind is at… I just want to fight the way I want to fight, and I want to do what I want to do regardless of the risks that are involved.”
Last month, for the first time in the company’s history, ONE released an official rankings list, and while Alvarez did not earn a ranking, he is not letting that get in the way of his quest to add a ONE title to his mantelpiece.
“My idea is always that I’m the champion. Everywhere I’ve went I beat the champion. Anybody who considers themselves the best guy in ONE Championship, I want to fight,” Alvarez said.
“I would fight [ONE lightweight champion] Christian Lee right now. I’d fight whoever has that belt around their waist. That’s who I have my eye on. If I have to fight anybody who considers themselves contenders or anybody in between, I’ll take them out in order to get there.”
Regardless of whether he is in title fights or not, if fans get to see vintage Alvarez back in action, no one will be complaining.
Are you hyped to see Alvarez’s return?