Eddie Alvarez | UFC Betting Sites - The Best MMA Online Bookies

Scott Coker Expresses Interest In Eddie Alvarez Bellator Return

Could “The Underground King” be on his way back to Bellator?

The post Scott Coker Expresses Interest In Eddie Alvarez Bellator Return appeared first on LowKickMMA.com.

Eddie Alvarez could potentially return to Bellator MMA.

“The Underground King” has developed an amazing mixed martial arts (MMA) career over the years. Alvarez has been fighting professionally since December of 2003. In his time as a fighter, he has fought for both Bellator MMA and the UFC.

Alvarez signed with Bellator MMA back in 2009. He even competed on Bellator 1 and defeated Greg Loughran in the quarterfinals of a lightweight tournament. He’d go on to become the promotion’s first 155-pound champion of all-time.

After a successful run that lasted about five years, Alvarez finally signed with the UFC in September of 2014. Alvarez’s relationship with Bjorn Rebney’s Bellator brass, as they engaged in a lawsuit in regards to his contract status, was extremely poor.

Upon signing with the UFC, Alvarez saw great success inside the Octagon. He earned wins over the likes of Gilbert Melendez, Anthony “Showtime” Pettis, and Rafael dos Anjos. The latter earned him the UFC lightweight title.

He even participated in the main event of the UFC’s first MMA event from Madison Square Garden. Alvarez headlined opposite arguably MMA’s biggest star of all-time, Conor McGregor, in a lightweight title defense. Despite losing, Alvarez earned a lot of notoriety from the platform.

Alvarez recently fought out the last fight on his previous UFC deal. He was defeated by Dustin Poirier via second-round TKO. If allowed to hit the open market after a potential exclusive negotiations clause, Alvarez would instantly become one of the hottest free agents in MMA.

Bellator MMA President Scott Coker joined Luke Thomas on The MMA Hour to discuss the situation. He admitted that, if legally allowed, he’d “love” to talk to Alvarez about a potential Bellator return (quotes via MMA Fighting):

“I don’t think we’ve talked to Eddie, but listen, if he wants to reach out and have a conversation and he’s truly a free agent and we’re not interfering in anybody’s contract, we would love to talk to him,” Coker said.

“I think the guy has done a lot of good work in building his brand here in the U.S. Obviously, he’s had some great fights with Michael Chandler here in the past. We want to talk to every free agent out there that’s a big star, and I think Eddie is still a big star.”

Should Coker ink Alvarez to a deal in the future, it wouldn’t be the first time the promotion has lured fighters away from the UFC. In recent years Bellator has landed fighters such as Rory MacDonald, Gegard Mousasi, Benson Henderson, Phil Davis and many more:

“There’s somebody here, there’s somebody there,” Coker said. “It’s not like there’s hundreds or even 10s and 20s of athletes.

“It’s more of, there’s a big star here or a big star here or a medium star there. But they’re out there and we’ve been plucking them away one by one. And we’re gonna keep shopping and we’re gonna keep growing this roster.”

The post Scott Coker Expresses Interest In Eddie Alvarez Bellator Return appeared first on LowKickMMA.com.

Bellator President Scott Coker Open to Speaking With Eddie Alvarez

Bellator president Scott Coker is open to having discussions with Eddie Alvarez. Alvarez is coming off a second-round TKO loss at the hands of Dustin Poirier. It was the last fight on “The Underground King’s” Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) deal. UFC president Dana White said he’d like to re-sign Alvarez, but would understand if the […]

The post Bellator President Scott Coker Open to Speaking With Eddie Alvarez appeared first on MMA News.

Dustin Poirier Predicts Khabib Nurmagomedov vs. Conor McGregor

One of the UFC’s top lightweights has weighed in on Khabib Nurmagomedov vs. Conor McGregor. Surging No. 3-ranked Dustin Poirier will return to action against Nate Diaz at November 3’s UFC 230. He could (should) earn a shot at the winner of UFC 229’s Khabib vs. Conor main event on October 6, 2018. So “The […]

The post Dustin Poirier Predicts Khabib Nurmagomedov vs. Conor McGregor appeared first on LowKickMMA.com.

One of the UFC’s top lightweights has weighed in on Khabib Nurmagomedov vs. Conor McGregor.

Surging No. 3-ranked Dustin Poirier will return to action against Nate Diaz at November 3’s UFC 230. He could (should) earn a shot at the winner of UFC 229’s Khabib vs. Conor main event on October 6, 2018.

So “The Diamond” has a vested interest in the megafight, and he has his prediction ready as well. Poirier offered it to Luke Thomas on a recent edition of The MMA Hour:

“I’m kinda leaning toward Khabib. I just don’t know if he’s going to stop Conor or whatnot, but I’m thinking he’s going to get the victory.”

Nurmagomedov’s fearsome wrestling is the reason many are picking him to hand McGregor a second loss in the octagon. But ‘The Notorious” knockout striking is also the stuff of legends, and Poirier knows it. Their heated rivalry in 2014 was ended due to the Irishman’s scary striking when he floored Poirier in one round.

McGregor’s straight left hand may be the most feared weapon in all of MMA. Because of that dynamic, Poirier rightfully couldn’t count ‘The Notorious’ out:

“I mean, he has a huge chance,” Poirier said. “He’s got great timing, great judge of distance. We’ll just see if the takedown defense holds up and the cardio holds up. That’s all he has to do. The openings will be there, but he just has to stand the test of the wrestling and the conditioning, the physical part that Khabib’s going to put on early in the fight.”

The former lightweight and featherweight champion will have been out of the octagon for almost two years when UFC 229 takes place. Nurmagomedov, meanwhile, last competed at UFC 223 this April, winning the title in the main event.

Poirier doesn’t think that will be an issue. McGregor simply has to find his timing in his mind:

“It’s all a mindset, really,” Poirier said. “Once you get your rhythm down, your timing, everything else falls into place.”

McGregor and his ability to defend the endless takedown attempts expected to come his way should decide the UFC’s biggest fight of 2018. Many gamblers are betting on Nurmagomedov because of it.

The striker vs. grappler dynamic may be cliche but in this case, it holds true. Either man’s ability to impose their skillset could be the deciding factor in what may be the UFC’s biggest-ever fight.

Meanwhile, Poirier will be waiting for the winner.

The post Dustin Poirier Predicts Khabib Nurmagomedov vs. Conor McGregor appeared first on LowKickMMA.com.

10 Times MMA Stars Went Crazy Overseas

Some major MMA stars went crazy overseas in the early days of the sport.

The post 10 Times MMA Stars Went Crazy Overseas appeared first on LowKickMMA.com.

MMA is a global sport, and as such stars often find themselves traveling overseas to all kinds of exotic and outlandish locations to train or fight.

As you’ll see in this article, that can often lead to some of the craziest, scariest and most bizarre experiences of their lives.

Eddie Alvarez Knocks Out Mafia Man In Russia

Back in 2007, ‘The Underground King,’ Eddie Alvarez was the welterweight champion for Bodog Fighting Championships and traveled to St. Petersburg, Russia, to defend his title against Nick Thompson.

Following the event, he attended an after-party on a yacht hosted by one of Bodog’s owners from Russia, where, according to fellow fighter Chael Sonnen who was also in attendance that night, a Russian gangster at the party punched one of the Bodog ring girls.

Outraged by what he’d just witnessed and not realizing who he was dealing with, Alvarez then stepped forward and knocked him out cold with one punch.

Sonnen says that portion of the story is 100% true, but admits that he doesn’t have concrete proof of what happened next, though the rumor was that Alvarez was then escorted from the yacht by Russian mobsters and taken out to the middle of nowhere, where a hole was dug and his life was threatened before they finally set him free.

The post 10 Times MMA Stars Went Crazy Overseas appeared first on LowKickMMA.com.

Coach Mark Henry Talks Heated Moment With Dustin Poirier & Reconciliation

Eddie Alvarez’s coach Mark Henry talks about his heated moment with Dustin Poirier as well as their reconciliation. At UFC Calgary last month, Poirier went one-on-one with Alvarez in the main event. The two did battle inside the Scotiabank Saddle…

The post Coach Mark Henry Talks Heated Moment With Dustin Poirier & Reconciliation appeared first on MMA News.

Mark Henry Recalls Confusing Alvarez-Poirier Encounter

Mark Henry was just trying to congratulate Dustin Poirier after his victory over Eddie Alvarez at UFC on FOX 30.

The post Mark Henry Recalls Confusing Alvarez-Poirier Encounter appeared first on LowKickMMA.com.

Mark Henry was trying to respect his team’s opponent in defeat do after UFC on FOX 30, but as a result, it also led to a strange encounter after Alvarez-Poirier.

Both Alvarez and Poirier engaged in a heated back and forth verbal battle leading up to their fight, yet “The Diamond” wasn’t quite ready to let go of the animosity. That was the case even after knocking out Alvarez in the second round, which was a truth Henry found out the hard way:

“I walked up to Dustin to congratulate him,” Henry said. “He says, Get the blank away from me. Which I did. I’m like, you know what? It’s his moment. I want him to have his moment. He deserves it.”

However, Poirier later explained that he was still very much heated due to all the trash that was being spewed from both Alvarez and his teammates/coaches. As a result, Henry insists he never harbored any ill will towards “The Diamond” while even calling Poirier honorable.

“The few [interviews] that I did, I talked very, very highly about Dustin,” Henry said. “I said how he loved he was. We’ve had hundreds of guys come to our place to help with sparring and Dustin was the most loved.”

“He was great, man. I don’t even know if he went to the doctor first. He ran to find us first. Before he even went to the doctor, he found us, he apologized to our whole team. That’s just a good dude. It was the heat of the moment. I just wish he would have known the things I was saying about him beforehand.”

It seems like, in the end, both Alvarez and Poirier are moving on to greener pastures so to speak, but because of different circumstances.

Alvarez will look to re-sign with the UFC or perhaps take his talents elsewhere. In the meantime, Poirier has a date with Nate Diaz on the massive UFC 230 card on November 3, 2018, one of the most anticipated fights of the year due to Diaz’ long-awaited return.

The post Mark Henry Recalls Confusing Alvarez-Poirier Encounter appeared first on LowKickMMA.com.