Eddie Alvarez’s long-awaited debut for ONE Championship didn’t go exactly as he planned.
The former Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) Lightweight champion of the world faced Timofey Nastyukhin in the opening round of the promotion’s Lightweight Grand Prix earlier today (Sun., March 31, 2019) at the ONE Championship “New Era” event in Tokyo, Japan.
From the jump, Alvarez — who has a deep fan base in “The Land of the Rising Sun” — couldn’t seem to pop off much offense, but did manage to land a clean right hand on his opponent, though it didn’t do a whole lot to rattle him. Content with staying on the feet and trading punches, Alvarez was ultimately clipped with a left hook that momentarily stunned him. Sensing the end coming, Timofey pounced on “The Underground King” and unleashed a barrage of strikes that forced Alvarez to crumble to the mat and the referee to step in and put and end to the punishment.
The defeat is Eddie’s second straight knockout loss — losing to Dustin Poirier in his previous bout — and takes him out of the ONE title picture for the time being. That said, Alvarez will have ample opportunities to collect a world title with the promotion after inking a long-term contract last year.
To get all full play-by-play updates and results from ONE Championship “New Era” click here.