Eddie Alvarez Talks Shinya Aoki and Future in Bellator

Matthew Roth: This weekend you’re facing Shinya Aoki. It’s a rematch from a fight you guys had in DREAM. What’s different in your career right now that makes this a winnable fight for you?Eddie Alvarez: It’s three years ago. Three years ago I was just …

Matthew Roth: This weekend you’re facing Shinya Aoki. It’s a rematch from a fight you guys had in DREAM. What’s different in your career right now that makes this a winnable fight for you?

Eddie Alvarez: It’s three years ago. Three years ago I was just finding myself in the division. I don’t feel like I was confident. I was too insecure in my own abilities and what I was capable of, and mentally I was immature. I didn’t know if I could compete with the top guys.

My beliefs in myself and what I was capable of wasn’t exactly there, and I feel like that’s a huge part of fighting. Not only that, but my skill set has grown tremendously.

I’m out here in Florida with some of the best trainers and fighters in the world, and I couldn’t be more prepared for the rematch. I’ve done my homework and everything I need to do, and I’m ready to go out there on Friday and get the W.

Matthew Roth: This is interesting because you were supposed to face him a little sooner during the DREAM lightweight tournament, but you had the eye injury from your fight with Kawajiri. Were you bummed out in any way that you couldn’t fight him during the tournament and that you had to fight him afterwards at Dynamite!! 2008?

Eddie Alvarez: To fight on Dynamite!! on New Year’s Eve, it’s the biggest event in history in MMA, so just to have the opportunity to fight on Dynamite!! is great. Do I think I would have had a better chance at beating him the night of the tournament? Yes.

The night of the tournament he fought Caol Uno all the way to decision, and he had him in a triangle for like the whole fight so he was tired. I was definitely the most well-conditioned fighter in that tournament at that time.

I only had a seven-minute fight with Kawajiri before the finals. I felt like I was more well-equiped and well-prepared to win that night. I went back at Dynamite!! and I didn’t show up like I should have, and I got caught. I lost focus for a second and I got caught. My hat’s off to him.

Some nights aren’t yours, and Friday night will be mine. That night was his, and he can have it. That was three years ago, and I think it will be different. 

Matthew Roth: He’s mostly known as a submission fighter, but he has weak wrestling. Do you think that works to your advantage if you can keep the fight standing?

Eddie Alvarez: Yeah, absolutely. Keep the fight standing or wherever the fight goes, he’s good at creating scrambles to get the fight to the ground. He’s one of the best lightweights in the world because he knows how to use his strength. He gets the fight to go where the odds are in his favor.

You can’t lose focus against a guy like this. We worked on that. We’re prepared and ready to go. I’m excited and can’t wait til Friday. 

Matthew Roth: For a lot of American fans, their introduction to Aoki was the fight with Gilbert Melendez. Do you think think they know how good he actually his, or do you think they see him as the guy who got smashed by Melendez?

Eddie Alvarez: I have no clue. I think the hardcore fans know who he is and what he’s capable of. I think your everyday fans only know him as the Japanese guy who Gilbert Melendez beat up. All your hardcore fans know how dangerous of an opponent he can be.

Even Gilbert knows how dangerous of an opponent he can be. If you look at the fight, Gilbert fought very cautious to get the win. Everyone knows he’s a dangerous guy if you let him fight his fight. 

Matthew Roth: Alright, so regarding Bellator…What’s the biggest difference with Spike’s involvement now compared to past media partners such as ESPN Deportes and Fox Sports? 

Eddie Alvarez: I don’t know any difference. I don’t pay attention to that too much. I have the same relationship I had since the beginning with Bjorn Rebney. We have a good relationship. I don’t know any difference.

I’m sure they’re coming up with a ton of great ideas and a ton of great things for 2013, but right now everything is basically the same on my part. My life doesn’t involve promotions and all of this stuff outside of training in the gym and my family. That’s all I’m really concerned with.

I wouldn’t even be able to answer that question properly because I don’t pay enough attention to that. 

Matthew Roth: There were rumors in the late winter/early spring that you were signing with the UFC following the Aoki fight. Did those rumors affect your relationship with Bjorn at all or not really?

Eddie Alvarez: No, those were ridiculous. For someone to even say that I was signing with the UFC makes no sense. People can say what they want to say. I’ve had people tell me I’m great, and I’ve had people tell me that I absolutely suck. I’ve had people tell me the craziest stuff.

You can’t believe what people say. You just kinda have to live your life, man, and go about your day and do what you do. People say crazy things. That doesn’t even make sense.

I’m obligated to a contract that I’ve had with Bellator for the past three years, and I’m a man of my word, and I’ll stick to what I signed. It’s impossible for something like that to happen. It’s just hearsay. 

Matthew Roth: Now, from your perspective, you’ve fought in Japan and in Bellator. What’s the big difference between fighting in the United States vs. Japan? And maybe in the promotions as well?

Eddie Alvarez: The biggest difference is the knowledge. Fans [in Japan] have a deeper knowledge of MMA and what it takes such as the conditioning aspect, the courage…the fans seem to have a better grip on MMA in general. The fact that sometimes good fighters lose, they understand it. They get that. They know that champions lose in MMA. It’s not like boxing where you’re 50-0; that’s unheard of.

Fans here in America still don’t grasp that. They’re getting better at it, but they still don’t grasp the fact that in MMA there’s so many different ways to lose that champions lose all the time in MMA. No one is unbeatable.

I think people don’t account for the conditioning aspect. They just want us to beat each other up at a super-high pace for like 25 minutes. They don’t understand the kind of conditioning it takes to do what we do. I think it’s evolving and people understand it more than what they did five years ago, and eventually they’ll get to the point that they have the same sort of knowledge of the sport as the Japanese fans. 

Matthew Roth: You brought up that champions fall and rebound, so I want to talk about the Mike Chandler fight for a second. Looking back on that fight, what do you think you could have done differently to walk away with the W?

Eddie Alvarez: I think I over-thought things. I definitely over-thought things. I was concerned with a lot of things that I shouldn’t have been concerned about and should have fought my fight better.

I feel like I worked too much defensively, rather than fighting my fight and doing what I do strong. I was too concerned with the wrestling and defenses rather than worrying about what I’m strong at and imposing my will. I lost focus for a second, and Mike was able to make me pay for it.

I feel like I had a bad night of fighting, and I made a few mistakes, and Mike was ready to fight. He came after me, and he was able to capitalize on the mistakes. I learned a lot from that fight. I grew tremendously in the past five or six months because of that fight.

It was bad when it happened, but if it didn’t then I wouldn’t have ever made the adjustments that I needed to. I never would have improved. 

Matthew Roth: Was there any talk of an immediate rematch, or was it basically if you want to fight him again you have to go through another tournament? 

Eddie Alvarez: If I wanted to fight him again I had to go through a tournament. I was the only one who was talking about a rematch. I asked Bjorn for a rematch and was quickly denied. I would have to go through another tournament, and in order to do another tournament, I would have to sign another contract which possibly could have been another three years.

I wasn’t comfortable with doing that at the time, and I’ve been asking for the Aoki fight for a couple years now, so if I can’t get one rematch I’ll take the other.

Matthew Roth: Now is the Aoki fight…for a lot of fighters, it seems like getting losses back is really important. Is that important to you, getting the W in a fight that you lost?

Eddie Alvarez: Yeah, it’s very important. It was my first loss at lightweight. It’s a testament to how much you’ve improved as a fighter and to see where you’re at. It’s a good way to gauge how much you’ve improved by fighting the same opponent again. 

Matthew Roth: Finally, you recently made the decision to train down in Florida with the Blackzilians and with Ricardo Almeida in Jersey. What were the factors that led you to leave the Fight Factory in Philly?

Eddie Alvarez: Every once in a while I still train with guys from the Fight Factory when I’m back in Philadelphia. For myself, for my future, for my career, I thought it was a better move to come go down to Florida. First and foremost, I’m here by myself in isolation, which means I can focus better.

There’s not a lot of guys in Philadelphia that train full-time, so during the day I’m by myself a lot. That never happens down here. You get a lot of attention all day long from other pro fighters and trainers. In Philadelphia that was hard to get.

It was hard to find guys who fight full-time or trainers who were able to dedicate their time to it because the money isn’t there yet in Philadelphia. Hopefully at some point it does, and I’ll be able to train full-time in my hometown.

Matthew Roth: Thank you very much; was there anything I missed that you want to say?

Eddie Alvarez: I’d just like to thank the Blackzilians and all my training partners. Ricardo Almeida and the whole group that I train with over there and in Philadelphia.

Most of all my wife for being such a great woman, taking care of the kids while I’m out here in Florida which allows me to stay focused and get ready for one of the biggest fights in my career. And also Authentic Sports Management for being so awesome. 

Read more MMA news on BleacherReport.com

How Would Bellator Champions Fare in the UFC?

Season 6 of Bellator is in full swing, with tournaments beginning to take shape and championships switching hands. Out of all this, I got to wondering how well each champion would fare in the UFC. Currently, Bellator has seven weight class championship…

Season 6 of Bellator is in full swing, with tournaments beginning to take shape and championships switching hands. Out of all this, I got to wondering how well each champion would fare in the UFC. Currently, Bellator has seven weight class championships, which is what the UFC has, minus the flyweight class. Let’s examine how […]

How Would Bellator Champions Fare in the UFC?

Season 6 of Bellator is in full swing, with tournaments beginning to take shape and championships switching hands. Out of all this, I got to wondering how well each champion would fare in the UFC.Currently, Bellator has seven weight class championships…

Season 6 of Bellator is in full swing, with tournaments beginning to take shape and championships switching hands. Out of all this, I got to wondering how well each champion would fare in the UFC.

Currently, Bellator has seven weight class championships, which is what the UFC has, minus the flyweight class.

Let’s examine how each champion would do.

Begin Slideshow

Dana White Isn’t a Big Fan of Bellator Welterweight Champion Ben Askren

Bellator welterweight champion Ben Askren has made plenty of news lately. First, there was last week’s infamous fight challenge to Ariel Helwani after the reporter expressed his (very valid) opinion that Askren’s title defense victory over …

Bellator welterweight champion Ben Askren has made plenty of news lately. First, there was last week’s infamous fight challenge to Ariel Helwani after the reporter expressed his (very valid) opinion that Askren’s title defense victory over Douglas Lima was boring. And now, Askren has decided that getting into a Twitter war with UFC President Dana […]

Bellator 65 Recap: Improvements Abound

Before I even begin to analyze this card, let’s get a few things out of the way: No, there were not as many decisions on this card as last week’s smothering performances; the main event ended by submission. No, the card overall was not comparable to a ProElite event, although there was a light sparring session thrown in with the fights that we could have done without. Simply put, the main card of Bellator 65 brought a lot of decisions, but was overall an entertaining event.

The evening kicked off with the opening bouts of the season six bantamweight tournament. The first bout saw Marcos Galvao outwork Ed West on his way to a unanimous decision victory. West attempted to keep Galvao outside with kicks throughout the fight, but Galvao was able to consistently take West down and avoid submission attempts. When the fight would find its way back to the feet, Marcos Galvao threw flying knees and hard rights to win over the judges, 30-27 on all scorecards.

As for the other opening bout of the bantamweight tournament- it happened. That’s about all there is to say about Luis Nogueira vs. Alexis Vila. In a fight that saw very little action, Nogueira managed to avoid Vila’s wild strikes throughout the first round and take Vila’s back. And that’s about it; neither fighter landed anything of significance for the rest of the bout, although Vila was more active than Nogueira for the rest of the fight. Controversial decision? If there was more action, maybe. But since Vila’s offensive output was equally non-existent, it’s hard to say that either fighter deserved a victory.

Before I even begin to analyze this card, let’s get a few things out of the way: No, there were not as many decisions on this card as last week’s smothering performances; the main event ended by submission. No, the card overall was not comparable to a ProElite event, although there was a light sparring session thrown in with the fights that we could have done without. Simply put, the main card of Bellator 65 brought a lot of decisions, but was overall an entertaining event.

The evening kicked off with the opening bouts of the season six bantamweight tournament. The first bout saw Marcos Galvao outwork Ed West on his way to a unanimous decision victory. West attempted to keep Galvao outside with kicks throughout the fight, but Galvao was able to consistently take West down and avoid submission attempts. When the fight would find its way back to the feet, Marcos Galvao threw flying knees and hard rights to win over the judges, 30-27 on all scorecards.

As for the other opening bout of the bantamweight tournament- it happened. That’s about all there is to say about Luis Nogueira vs. Alexis Vila. In a fight that saw very little action, Nogueira managed to avoid Vila’s wild strikes throughout the first round and take Vila’s back. And that’s about it; neither fighter landed anything of significance for the rest of the bout, although Vila was more active than Nogueira for the rest of the fight. Controversial decision? If there was more action, maybe. But since Vila’s offensive output was equally non-existent, it’s hard to say that either fighter deserved a victory.

In the featherweight tournament semifinals, Daniel Straus picked up a unanimous decision over Mike Corey, despite having Corey in danger early and often throughout the fight. Mike Corey fought zombie-style against Straus, walking through Straus’ offense in an attempt to bring the fight to the ground. Straus was clearly tired and frustrated by the end of the fight, spitting out his mouthpiece in an effort to buy time.

This isn’t to say that Straus didn’t impress; as hard as Corey worked for the takedown, he was only successful with one takedown attempt. Straus improves to 5-1 in Bellator and 19-4 overall with the victory.

In the evening’s main event, Eduardo Dantas proved his legitimacy in the bantamweight division with a dominant victory over bantamweight champion Zach Makovsky. Makovsky found early success with his takedowns, yet was unable to do much of anything in Dantas’ guard. Meanwhile, Dantas had Makovsky looking timid on his feet, catching the champion with hard kicks throughout the opening frame.

Dantas continued to press the action in the second round, capitalizing on a Makovsky takedown with a reversal and eventually mounting the champion. Once Dantas earned full mount, the fight was all but over. Dantas set up an arm-triangle choke that put Makovsky to sleep, winning the bantamweight title. Dantas improves to 14-2 overall, including a 4-0 run in Bellator.


All videos props to IronForgesIron.com

One final note: Lyman Good has qualified for next season’s welterweight tournament. Rather than attempt to describe his fight, let’s just show you the video. It won’t take long.

Full Results:

Main Card
Eduardo Dantas def. Zach Makovsky via submission (arm-triangle choke) – Round 2, 3:26
Daniel Straus def. Mike Corey via unanimous decision (30-27, 29-28, 29-28) featherweight-tournament semifinal
Luis Nogueira def. Alexis Vila via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28) – bantamweight-tournament opening round
Marcos Galvao def. Ed West via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27) – bantamweight-tournament opening round

Preliminary Card
Duane Bastress def. Plinio Cruz via TKO (strikes) – Round 2, 2:52
Will Martinez def. Terrell Hobbs via submission (rear-naked choke) – Round 1, 4:13
Scott Heckman def. Lester Caslow via submission (rear-naked choke) – Round 1, 3:40
Kris McCray def. Ailton Barbosa via split decision (29-28, 28-29, 29-28)
Lyman Good def. LeVon Maynard via KO (punch) – Round 1, 0:13 – welterweight-tournament qualifier
E.J. Brooks def. Mikhail Malyutin via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-26)

Bellator 65: Makovsky vs Dantas Live Results and Play-by-Play

Bellator 65 takes place tonight in Atlantic City, New Jersey. In the main event Zach “Fun Size” Makovsky will be defending his bantamweight strap against Eduardo Dantas. The night kicks off at 7:00 PM ET/6:00 PM CT on Spike.com with six preliminary fig…

Bellator 65 takes place tonight in Atlantic City, New Jersey. In the main event Zach “Fun Size” Makovsky will be defending his bantamweight strap against Eduardo Dantas. The night kicks off at 7:00 PM ET/6:00 PM CT on Spike.com with six preliminary fights.

After those conclude make your way over to MTV2 and watch the four fight main card. And be sure to join the live discussion of the fights! 

Main Card

Zach Makovsky vs Eduardo Dantas (Bantamweight Title)

Mike Corey vs Daniel Straus (Featherweight)

Ed West vs Marcos Galvao (Bantamweight)

Alexis Vila vs Luis Nogueira (Bantamweight)

Preliminary Card

Ailton Barbosa vs Kric McCray (Welterweight)

Lyman Good vs LeVon Maynard (Welterweight)

Emanuel Brooks vs Mikhail Malyutin (Lightweight)

Terrell Hobbs vs Will Martinez (Lightweight)

Scott Heckman vs Lester Caslow (Featherweight)

Duane Bastress vs Plinio Cruz (Middleweight)

Kenny Foster vs Jay Haas (Featherweight)

Read more MMA news on BleacherReport.com