In the end, there was just too much working against Eddie Alvarez and Gilbert Melendez for them to really do their years-long rivalry justice.
It might have been foolish for us to ever expect they could.
Alvarez and Melendez had many battles to fight on Saturday at UFC 188. They had to overcome not only the weight of a beef dating back to their days as rival champions of smaller organizations, but the stamina-sucking altitude of Mexico City and—for Alvarez, at least—a badly swollen left eye, which plagued him through nearly the entire bout.
If their long-awaited grudge match gave us anything, however, it was a close-up lens on the former Bellator MMA 155-pound champ’s toughness.
Not to mention his wily veteran savvy.
After a difficult first round, a battered Alvarez altered his game plan and was able to stifle Melendez just enough over the final 10 minutes to score a split-decision victory in their co-main event fight (29-28, 28-29, 29-28).
Where we expected a slugfest, it was Alvarez’s takedowns and pressure against the fence that ended up winning the day.
“I think it was at the end of the first when I got the takedown, I felt like ‘Man, he’s not strong here,’” he told UFC color commentator Joe Rogan in the cage when it was over. “It’s a big part of MMA—just checking a guy’s whole arsenal. Checking if his takedown defense is good, his stand-up, et cetera. I found that chink (in his armor) late in the first and I had to go for it because of my eye.”
The eye really became a problem between the first and second round. Melendez had obviously won the opening stanza with his striking, rocking Alvarez with a short standing elbow inside the first minute, 30 seconds. The blow might have broken Alvarez’s nose, and the Philadelphia native could be seen visibly wincing as Melendez continued to land jabs and at least one more hard right hand during the remainder of the round.
After the horn, UFC cameras caught Alvarez trying to blow out his nasal passages—a big no-no for someone with a broken nose, as boxing aficionados and anyone who has ever seen Rogan commentate a fight before already knew. The result was that his already puffy left eye instantaneously swelled almost completely shut.
Alvarez’s cut men worked on the eye during both round breaks, but the inflammation continued to be so bad it seemed he might be in danger of losing via doctor stoppage. He was allowed to fight on, however, and—though he’d had some success with low kicks and a hard spinning elbow during the first five minutes—he opted to go with a more deliberate grappling-based attack in the final two rounds.
Alvarez managed to take Melendez off his feet a few times, but couldn’t hold him down. Instead, he controlled a good portion of the fight by pressuring him against the chain link and simply forcing him to ward off shots at his legs. Melendez was largely undeterred, and he continued to come forward and throw punches, though he noticeably slowed down as the bout wore on.
The live crowd at Arena Ciudad de México (elevation approximately 7,380 ft.) booed more than anyone could’ve expected, but the strategy proved successful for the usually heavy-handed Alvarez once the scores were read.
“I would’ve liked to open up a little bit more than what I did,” he told Rogan. “He shut my eye in the very beginning so, honestly, just fighting through that was tough.”
The performance netted Alvarez his badly needed first win inside the Octagon. After a contentious contract dispute with Bellator during 2013 he finally made to this UFC last fall, only to suffer a lopsided decision loss to Donald Cerrone at UFC 178. He’d fought just twice since the end of 2012, and if he meant to preserve his longstanding reputation as one of the top lightweights in the world, he absolutely had to beat Melendez.
The two traded verbal barbs throughout the run-up to this bout, saying they’d wanted to fight each other since the years when Melendez had been 155-pound champion of Strikeforce and Alvarez his counterpart in Bellator. Once the bought started, however, they quickly appeared to squash the bad feelings, and they touched gloves to begin the second round.
They already had some stiff competition for Fight of the Night honors—as Yair Rodríguez and Charles Rosa had turned in dandy two fights earlier—and it didn’t take long to realize this bout wasn’t going to live up to our expectations.
Still, we saw a lot of good things from both men on this night. Melendez looked dangerous in the stand-up game and refused to give up the decision easily, even after fatigue had clearly become a factor. Alvarez didn’t look nearly as outsized or as outgunned as he had against Cerrone, and he showed amazing heart in battling back after the first, especially considering the eye.
The victory will no doubt send him rocketing up the official UFC rankings from his current No. 9 spot. With Cerrone set for a title shot later this year, it makes almost anyone else in the Top 10 a worthy and interesting opponent for Alvarez.
The fight itself did not live up to the hype, but after waiting so long to score his first UFC win, Alvarez is likely pleased with the result.
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