Eddie Alvarez may be the biggest star in ONE’s Lightweight division, but his record with the promotion makes it a hard sell to give him a shot at the belt.
It’s been a rough ride for many Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) expats who have left the promotion for ONE Championship. There’s Demetrious Johnson, who lost off a massive knee to the face while grounded (legal in ONE). Sage Northcutt, whose face was literally smashed in by Cosmo Alexandre. And then Eddie Alvarez, who has gone 1-2-1 in the promotion.
That iffy record (with his two fights in 2021 a “No Contest” to Iuri Lapicus and decision loss to Ok Rae Yoon) didn’t stop Alvarez from calling out current ONE Championship Lightweight champion, Christian Lee.
“I don’t need Christian for my legacy,” Alvarez said when asked why he should get the title fight. “I don’t need him. He needs me. To prove to the world that he can beat someone like me. I don’t need to prove to anyone that I can beat someone like Christan Lee, I’ve beat a hundred of him.”
Now, Lee is responding, and it doesn’t sound like he’s taking the bait.
“Whenever they sign a big name, a guy like Eddie, he’s definitely a guy I’d like to fight once he got signed to the promotion,” Lee said in a recent interview. “But, you know, nothing against him, but he’s 1-3 in the promotion, and as much as I want to fight him, it’d be a good draw, he’s gotta do more before he can get a title shot.”
Hey, you have to forgive Lee for counting that “No Contest” as an loss, maybe he was using the Sherdog Fight Finder to compile Eddie’s record.
Hey @sherdogdotcom can we get my record fixed on your site ???? I didn’t lose to Lapicus it was changed to a NC Also my last “loss “ was also bullshit .. js .. thanx fellas
— Eddie Alvarez (@Ealvarezfight) May 26, 2021
As you can see, Alvarez completely believes his recent record doesn’t reflect the reality he is attempting to create around himself as a Conor McGregor-type deserving of a shot at any moment. Alas, there’s limits to these things and it’s hard to buy Alvarez’s story on what happened in his last fight against Yoon when there’s plenty of evidence to the contrary.
Down goes Eddie! How did he survive that? @tntdrama @BleacherReport @BR_MMA @brlive #WeAreONE #ONEChampionship #ONEonTNT4 pic.twitter.com/OdwEOFYAKp
— ONE Championship (@ONEChampionship) April 29, 2021
Surely, ONE can set up the much-needed rematch against Lapicus, and if Alvarez smashes him (in a more legal fashion this time), then we can talk about a title shot … maybe. But, with Alvarez not even in the ONE Lightweight Top 5 rankings, the reality may be he’s more of a star attraction these days than top contender.