The UFC touches down in New York for the first time on Saturday with one of the best lineups in its long history at UFC 205.
Madison Square Garden will play host to three title fights, including the biggest draw in the history of the sport. In the main…
The UFC touches down in New York for the first time on Saturday with one of the best lineups in its long history at UFC 205.
Madison Square Garden will play host to three title fights, including the biggest draw in the history of the sport. In the main event, featherweight ConorMcGregor takes on lightweight kingpin Eddie Alvarez in the first meeting of two current champions since Georges St-Pierre and BJ Penn met at UFC 94 in 2009.
This champion vs. champion matchup is a momentous occasion and one of the best pure matchups that can be made in the entire sport.
The rest of the card doesn’t disappoint. TyronWoodley defends his newly won welterweight crown against Stephen Thompson in a crackling co-main event, while rising star Joanna Jedrzejczyk puts her strawweight belt on the line against Karolina Kowalkiewicz in an all-Polish title matchup at 115 pounds.
Three more outstanding fights round out the best main card in UFC history.
Former middleweight champion Chris Weidman returns to action for the first time since losing his belt, going against Cuban Olympian Yoel Romero and his seven-fight winning streak. The surging Donald Cerrone takes on Kelvin Gastelum in an outstanding welterweight bout, and former women’s bantamweight champion Miesha Tate draws Raquel Pennington in the opener.
Even the preliminary card is full of talent. Former lightweight champion Frankie Edgar draws Jeremy Stephens in the Fox Sports 1 headliner, while an outstanding lightweight fight featuring KhabibNurmagomedov and Michael Johnson deepens the offering.
Stephen Thompson has cut a swathe through the UFC’s welterweight division on his way to a title shot against champion Tyron Woodley at UFC 205 on November 12.
Thompson has beaten seven straight opponents since the lone loss of his career, a decision at…
Stephen Thompson has cut a swathe through the UFC’s welterweight division on his way to a title shot against champion Tyron Woodley at UFC 205 on November 12.
Thompson has beaten seven straight opponents since the lone loss of his career, a decision at the hands of Matt Brown in 2012. Four of those wins have come by devastating knockout. None of those seven opponents have come close to solving the puzzle that Wonderboy’s complex game presents.
Thompson has spent his entire life competing in karate and kickboxing. His unique style, which includes movement, angles and lightning-fast blitzes and counters, combines the best of similar fighters such as Lyoto Machida. Machida has instincts necessary to win rounds against elite opponents and the takedown defense to keep the fight in his wheelhouse.
Bleacher Report caught up with Thompson to get some insight into his approach and how he makes it work against the best fighters in one of MMA‘s deepest divisions.
Bleacher Report: So your base is in karate, a really deep background, but how much of the training you do now is still centered on that approach and how much have you had to branch out since coming into MMA?
Stephen Thompson: I first started my MMA training when I went up to Tristar [in Montreal] with Georges St-Pierre, and at the time I was kickboxing a whole lot. But I found that I had to do some modifications with my stance to deal with the wrestling. Whenever I would blitz in, whenever I would move in, all Georges would have to do was change his level and I’d run right into a double leg.
I had to go to a little bit of a wider stance, and instead of blitzing straight in, I’d blitz to the side, kind of change the angle up a little bit. But other than that, pretty much everything is still the same. I’m focusing a whole lot on my wrestling, a bit offensively but mostly defensively.
B/R: That’s one of the really striking things about your game in the last few years, how much better your takedown defense has gotten. How much of that has to do with those kinds of adjustments to your stance and how much with just drilling and drilling and drilling?
Thompson: It’s a little bit of both. The first thing I had to change was my stance, obviously, and my angles. After that, I had to have the wrestling, knowing the right thing to do when they get in on a single or a double, being able to react fast and making it muscle memory. So that drilling over and over and over again has definitely helped me out.
My wrestling coach Thomas Lee has done wonders with me since day one. We learned a lot, obviously, after that Matt Brown fight with the weight cut and takedown defense, but it’s just been doing it over and over again, religiously, every day. It’s having someone in on a leg all the time.
It’s also having someone as technical as Chris Weidman, whom I train with, Karl Reed, my buddy Matt Miller, who’s a Canadian wrestler—every day having a specialist in on your legs. So that’s helped tremendously.
B/R: The other thing that occurs to me as far as your takedown defense is how much of your game is built on distance management that it’s not easy at this point to get a clean shot at your hips. You’re very rarely there for that takedown in the first place.
Thompson: Exactly. Distance management plays a whole lot in my game, and we’re starting to see more and more of that in mixed martial arts with guys like Conor McGregor, Gunnar Nelson. Anderson Silva was doing it for years, Machida. The game is changing, it’s evolving, it’s getting better and it’s getting down to these little details that determine whether you’re going to win this matchup or not.
Distance management plays a whole lot, just not being there when those guys are trying to shoot in on a leg. Well, that’s the goal anyway. At this level, everyone you face is very good. But it’s done wonders with those wrestlers who just wade in and walk forward.
B/R: Speaking of that, your approach really is built on distance management, enforcing that long range with your kicks and your footwork, which allows you to either blitz forward with a combination or to bait your opponent into rushing in, and gives you the space to land some gorgeous counterpunches.
How do you tell what the right range is? How do you vary it from opponent to opponent? Is it something you’ve thought about beforehand, or do you only make those adjustments when you get in the cage and see what your opponent is trying to do?
Thompson: It’s definitely a feel thing. You have to experience it, do a lot of sparring. It’s just being in the game for a long time to be able to develop that feel. Not knowing what your opponent is going to do, you can prepare yourself all you want, but until you step out there and get a real feel for what your opponent’s like, you may have to make some changes.
With my last fight with Rory MacDonald, I had the game plan to try and go out there and finish him in the first round like I did to Johny Hendricks, but as soon as I stepped out there, I had to adapt because I knew he was waiting for me to close that gap so he could shoot the takedown.
So it’s about feel. You can have the game plan going in, but if I step out there and it doesn’t feel right, I won’t do it.
That’s why a lot of the time in my fights, my dad, who’s my coach, doesn’t say a whole lot. He’s just like, “Hey, how do you feel about this? You’re doing good, you’re landing this kick or punch, keep it up.” That’s basically it because it’s a feel thing.
He may see some things outside the cage that I don’t see inside, as you saw when I fought Jake Ellenberger. He told me to spin, and I landed the spinning hook kick. But most of the time, he just lets me do my thing because it’s a feel thing.
B/R: That’s really interesting. I wanted to talk about the spinning strikes because I think, having watched a lot of your fights over the years, people seem to get caught up in that. What’s really striking to me, though, is how well you do the little things, like pivots, your sense of where you are in the cage and meat-and-potatoes straight punches.
Do you see those kinds of basics as creating a foundation for you to do the more eye-popping, flashy stuff?
Thompson: Oh, definitely, and that’s something we work at our school, Upstate Karate. The beginners start off doing the basics, keeping their hands up, working the jab-cross, basic kicks. But once you’ve done that and have a little bit more experience, maybe even a fight or two under your belt, you can start to make your own style.
There are a lot of people at our gym that you’d expect to fight just like me. And they may have some similar stuff, but it’s not quite like me. You have to have the foundation, the basics, but once you get up to a higher level, it’s more about what feels right, what works for you, what doesn’t work for you.
You know, I teach my guys to keep their hands up, but if you’ve ever seen me fight, where are my hands at? They’re down. That’s just something that helps me and works for me, but what works for me may not work for you or for another student.
You have to have the basics first, but after a few years, you can get away with stuff like that because it is a feel and you’re developing your own style there.
B/R: You talked a lot about experience and feel. When you’re preparing for a fight, what does that process look like? How much tape study do you do? How much light, movement-type work do you do? How much hard sparring leading into things?
Thompson: Well, we go back and watch all the film on our opponents. We’re looking for how many changes they’ve made from their first fight up to their most recent fight.
There are a lot of guys out there where, if you’ve seen them fight once, you’ve seen them fight a hundred times. They could be very good at that one thing, but they don’t make a lot of changes. When I fought Johny Hendricks, he threw the big left hand and tries to get you to the cage and take you down there.
There wasn’t a whole lot there when you went into the cage, like, “Dang, did he just throw that?” There weren’t going to be wild spinning hook kicks or things like that, it was very basic.
So we went back and worked on a lot of movement. I had a partner of mine throwing that big left hand over and over and over again. I would stand there and just try to find the angles, things that I could do like little half steps to the left or the right, or maybe back a little bit to make him swing and miss or meeting in the middle before he could get that punch off.
There’s a lot of seeing what’s coming at you over and over again and being able to do something about it when it happens. That’s why, not to take anything away from Johny, it was so easy because I knew exactly what he was going to do and I drilled that punch over and over again, so I didn’t have to think about it. I just did it.
When it comes to sparring, I do very little, maybe twice a week. Wednesday is mostly stand-up sparring, and Saturday is more of MMA. So we’ll do five five-minute rounds.
We keep it light because a lot of fighters didn’t lose their chin in the cage, they lost it in the gym beating the crap out of each other. And that’s one of the things Forrest Griffin told me, “Hey, man, I didn’t lose my chin in the cage, I lost it in the gym. We just didn’t train smart.”
If you want a long career in this sport, you’re really going to have to take care of your body outside the Octagon.
B/R: That makes a ton of sense.
Shifting gears just a bit, one of the things that stands out about your game is that you’re always working at a pace. You’re always putting volume on your opponent. S o even if you can’t create the knockout shot, you’ve still got a strong process in the sense that you’re winning rounds. When you’re thinking about your opponents, how much do you think about scoring and how much do you think about looking for the finish?
Thompson: I never go out looking for the finish. I’ve been in the fight game for a long time doing kickboxing and MMA, and I know what it feels like to go out there and try to finish somebody—and when it doesn’t happen, how that can affect you mentally. It can really mess with you, and you’re like, “Crap, I’m giving this guy everything I’ve got, and nothing’s happening.”
It feels like the more I try to go out there and finish guys, it just doesn’t happen. I just try to play my game and land punches and pressure my opponent.
With my style, you never know what I’m going to throw. My opponent has to be on edge the whole time, and that can be exhausting. I may do a little flinch here or there to make him react, and those little, tiny reactions will wear and tear on you as the rounds go on.
For instance, sometimes we’ll have guys come in to do a sparring session, and the first round I won’t throw a single technique. I’ll just move around, feint, do some awkward movements, and the next thing you know, they’re tired. They’re tired because they’re tense and they don’t know what’s going to happen.
That’s my plan, to go out there and frustrate them, throw my kicks and punches, try not to be there when they swing and miss. After a while, that gets frustrating, and then they start to do things they normally wouldn’t do, like really lunging in with those hands or shooting in from too far.
That’s when you can start catching them.
B/R: It’s interesting that you put it in those terms because you can see that process happening with your opponents in the middle of the fight. You can see guys start to get frustrated and think too much, like, “OK, I’ve got to cover the gap. There’s too much distance. I’ve got to get inside.”
That was clear when you fought Hendricks. He had gone to all this trouble to close the distance, and then you escaped, reset and landed a really hard side kick. All that had been for nothing, and he was right back at long range where he’d started. You could see the frustration, and the fight was basically over at that point.
Thompson: Yeah, exactly. I got off the cage and hit him with a side thrust kick, and the technique right after looked like it was going to be a side kick. But it was actually a round kick to the face. Once he dropped his hands and shook his head, I knew I had him. I could see it in his eyes.
All I needed to do was pick at him a little bit more until he started lunging in, and that was when I started landing the strikes.
But sometimes it doesn’t happen. Sometimes you have to go out there and play the game, like with Rory. When we went back and watched film with Rory, every time we saw him fight, he had something different. And that’s a dangerous fighter. Every time they step out there, they’re improving, doing something new, and Rory is very hard to prepare for because I didn’t know what he was going to do.
Is he going to rely on his wrestling? I knew he was going to try to take me down, but I didn’t know what he was going to try to take me down with—a traditional single leg, like we’ve seen him do in the past, or something crazy. I had a feeling he was going to try something crazy, and I was right.
In the first round, when I went out there I knew I was ready for the takedown, but I had to lure it out of him with my movement. That’s why the first round was kind of slow, just picking away with the jab to try to lure that takedown out. I was thinking, “Come on, man, hurry up and try to take me down so I can figure out what you’re going to try to take me down with!”
And then he went into that flying heel hook, and I’m like, “OK, I know what he’s going to try and do,” and I started to feel a little more comfortable. I knew what to prepare for and what to expect, and I started letting things go from there.
But man, my brain was on overload after that fight.
B/R: I’ve talked to Firas Zahabi [Rory MacDonald’s coach] a number of times and been up to Tristar and know how deeply he’s into game-planning. There’s always a trick up his sleeve. Rory is kind of his baseline fighter: He’s formless, and he can be shaped into whatever he needs to be for any given fight. That’s a tremendously difficult thing to prepare for.
Thompson: Definitely, but I love those fights because you’re getting out there with somebody who’s playing the game with you.
Some guys I’ve fought in the past just kind of wait for it. They try to meet you in the middle and start throwing punches like Rock’em Sock’em Robots. They just aren’t playing the game. With Rory, he’s definitely a thinker, and I had to be on edge all five rounds because I didn’t know what to expect.
You have to sit there and adapt, and that’s where that feel comes in. A lot of sparring sessions with a lot of different people come in. I’ve been fighting since I was 15, but I’ve sparred so many different people that I can go out there and change up a game plan.
Of course, I’m still working on stuff and I’m still trying to figure things out. I have a lot of improving to do on my striking and everything else.
But man, that was just such a fun fight for me. It was one of my favorite ones. There were a lot of people who weren’t happy with it; they thought it was a little slow, and I guess they expected us to go out there and brawl. I’m smarter than that, though, especially with someone like Rory.
B/R: So without getting too much into your game plan, what do you see when you look at Tyron Woodley? When you take that kind of analytical approach that you’ve talked about, what do you see in him?
Thompson: I see a very explosive athlete. Very fast, very explosive and he throws hard. A lot of people say he tires out, but for me, I’m preparing for the best Tyron Woodley when I step out there.
But from looking at him, he’s a very explosive guy. He looks for the double [-leg takedown] off the right hand, but he slows down as the rounds go on a little bit, backs up to the cage and lets his opponent tee off first.
I’m looking at the same game plan going in that I had against Johny Hendricks, just with the other leg forward—throws the big hand, looks for the takedown. I know he’s going to be strong in the clinch, and I know eventually he’s going to try to take me down, but that’s true of just about everybody I step out there in the Octagon with.
That’s what I’m looking out for, just trying to stay away from those heavy hands. He may try and chain-wrestle me a while, switch from a single to a double against the cage to try to tire me out. That’s a strategy we’ve seen in the past from strong wrestlers like Georges St-Pierre—try to tire the striker out by just hanging on him and making him wrestle.
I’ve had really good guys in for this camp. Obviously, I’ve had Chris Weidman, who’s a grinder on his own, so I’m definitely prepared for that.
B/R: I really appreciate your insight, and it was fascinating talking to you about all of this.
Patrick Wyman is the Senior MMA Analyst for Bleacher Report and the co-host of the Heavy Hands Podcast, your source for the finer points of face-punching. For the history enthusiasts out there, he also hosts The Fall of Rome Podcast on the end of the Roman Empire. He can be found on Twitter and on Facebook.
Conor McGregor has the opportunity to send his already notorious legacy into orbit on Saturday, November 12, when he takes on Eddie Alvarez at UFC 205.
The UFC featherweight champion will look to become the first fighter to hold two UFC belts sim…
ConorMcGregor has the opportunity to send his already notorious legacy into orbit on Saturday, November 12, when he takes on Eddie Alvarez at UFC 205.
The UFC featherweight champion will look to become the first fighter to hold two UFC belts simultaneously by capturing Alvarez’s lightweight belt on an absolutely stacked card.
McGregor and Alvarez’s stocks are both at an all-time high.
The Notorious is fresh off a win that avenged his only UFC loss. He made the right adjustments and won a battle with Nate Diaz that only served to show his ability to adjust to an opponent from fight to fight, but also his ability to win fights at multiple weight divisions.
Meanwhile Alvarez is coming off the performance of his life. He captured the lightweight title by blitzkrieging former champion Rafael dos Anjos in the first round.
Here’s a look at the career stats and how each fighter got to this spot leading up to their showdown.
How Eddie Alvarez Got Here
Eddie Alvarez as a UFC champion was a thought that many considered could happen when Alvarez was running roughshod over the entire lightweight division at Bellator from 2009 to 2013. He was always among the top fighters anytime non-UFC talent came up.
But when the 32-year-old did finally come to the UFC, the fanfare was shot down fairly quickly by Donald Cerrone. Cowboy bear Alvarez in his UFC debut via unanimous decision and cast doubt on just how good Alvarez really was.
Since then, Alvarez has done nothing but win on his way to UFC gold.
Perhaps the most underrated champion on the roster, he is on a three-fight win streak that includes victories over Gilbert Melendez, Anthony Pettis and Rafael dos Anjos.
It’s tough to find a more impressive three-fight stretch of opponents.
In some ways, Alvarez is the antithesis of McGregor. Where the Irishman has been groomed for UFC stardom from Day 1, Alvarez fought for years outside of the UFC before finally getting his shot and has had nothing but tough fights since joining the organization.
“It happened slowly for me; it didn’t happen overnight,” Alvarez said of his path to the title, per Lance Pugmireof the Los Angeles Times. “But I had an idea and belief in my mind that if I wasn’t concerned with what I was getting, and only concerned with what I was giving, I would never grow bitter or angry.”
As a fighter, Alvarez’s approach to fighting is indicative of his path. He fights like a veteran of the sport. His greatest strength might just be his adaptability, as he’s capable of playing the role of stifling wrestler—like he did in a decision win over Pettis—or he can be a powerful striker a la his first-round finish over RDA for the title.
That adaptability will be key in fighting McGregor, as he’s going against one of the most technically sound fighters in the game.
How ConorMcGregor Got Here
The simple answer to that question is by being the most interesting fighter in the sport.
Through a combination of bravado, mystery and skill, McGregor has made himself must-watch TV. When he’s fighting, there’s a buzz that few in the sport have been able to create.
But behind all the hype is a fighter who is actually a tough out for anyone within his weight-class range.
The use of the word “range” in this instance is accurate. After dusting Jose Aldo in seconds, it became clear that McGregor‘s greatest challenges might lay outside of the 145-pound weight class.
Of course, fate wouldn’t allow his next fight after that to take place at 155, but rather a short-notice fight with Nate Diaz took place at welterweight. Then, after struggling with cardio at 170, the champion insisted on taking the rematch with Diaz at welterweight again.
Then McGregor put on a masterful performance at 170 in the rematch, which begs the question: Have we even seen The Notorious at his optimal weight class?
The answer is probably no.
The Irishman looks emaciated when weighing in at 145, a weight cut that almost certainly leaves McGregor drained of some power even when fight night rolls around. However, he is just 1-1 as a welterweight and appears to be a little more soft at 170 pounds.
Looking at the two in staredowns like the one that Fox Sports shared, McGregor should be the bigger man on Saturday night:
That means that as good as McGregor has been, the 155-pound version that fans will see on Saturday might be the best incarnation yet.
That’s a scary thought for Alvarez and anyone who wants to see the brash fighter go down.
Prediction
The oddsmakers see this as a near toss-up, with the Irishman clocking in as a small 13-20 favorite, per Odds Shark.
That’s understandable. Alvarez is one of the most accomplished fighters that McGregor has come across, and there are some weaknesses in Mystic Mac’s game that he very well could expose.
For instance, if Alvarez is able to pin McGregor against the cage and force him to carry his weight—like he did when he sucked the life out of Anthony Pettis—he will be on his way to retaining the title. Although lightweight might be the best weight class for McGregor, he’s been bullied in the grappling department before by Diaz and Chad Mendes.
However, the most likely scenario remains a McGregor win that sees him hold two belts simultaneously.
McGregor‘s ability to play the role of aggressor and crafty counterpuncher make him the perfect kryptonite to Alvarez’s striking game, and no one has been able to pin McGregor down over the course of a five-round fight.
He will eventually force him into stand-up exchanges, and McGregor will come out on top of those.
The biggest card in MMA history will take place Saturday night at Madison Square Garden in New York City, headlined by Conor McGregor (20-3) vs. Eddie Alvarez (28-4) for the lightweight championship in the main event at UFC 205.
McGregor is listed as a…
The biggest card in MMA history will take place Saturday night at Madison Square Garden in New York City, headlined by ConorMcGregor (20-3) vs. Eddie Alvarez (28-4) for the lightweight championship in the main event at UFC 205.
McGregor is listed as a solid -155 favorite (bet $155 to win $100) to become the organization’s first simultaneous two-division champion at sportsbooks monitored by Odds Shark.
Alvarez is the reigning lightweight champion and will be making his first title defense as a +135 underdog (bet $100 to win $135) after upsetting Rafael Dos Anjos via first-round knockout at UFC Fight Night 90 back on July 7 in Las Vegas.
The lone loss for Alvarez in the UFC came in his debut against Donald Cerrone by unanimous decision at UFC 178 two years ago. The former Bellator lightweight champ then earned consecutive split-decision wins over Gilbert Melendez and Anthony Pettis before taking the belt.
McGregor, who is also the current featherweight champ, will have a significant five-inch reach advantage and split his last two bouts at welterweight versus Nate Diaz.
Many feel the brash Irishman’s natural division is lightweight (155 lbs) rather than featherweight (145) or welterweight (170), so this is his chance to prove he can beat the best there and make history. No UFC fighter has ever held two titles at the same time.
Two other championship fights will also take place on the historic NYC card that will be the first ever held in New York state.
In the co-main event, welterweight champ TyronWoodley (16-3) is a +170 underdog against rising star Stephen “Wonderboy” Thompson (13-1), the -200 favorite. Thompson is riding a seven-fight winning streak since suffering his only career loss to Matt Brown via UD at UFC 145 in 2012.
Meanwhile, Woodley is coming off a stunning first-round KO of former champ Robbie Lawler at UFC 201 on July 30 and has won five of six, with the loss by UD to Rory MacDonald at UFC 174.
The women’s strawweight title is up for grabs as well, although champ Joanna Jedrzejczyk (12-0) is a massive -400 favorite versus Karolina Kowalkiewicz (10-0), the +300 underdog. Both Polish women have yet to lose, but Jedrzejczyk has six wins in the UFC compared to just three for Kowalkiewicz, who made her UFC debut last December.
Eddie Alvarez and Conor McGregor square off at UFC 205 at Madison Square Garden, New York, on Saturday night, as the featherweight icon from Ireland steps up to challenge for the Silent Assassin’s UFC lightweight championship.
…
Eddie Alvarez and Conor McGregorsquare off at UFC 205 at Madison Square Garden, New York, on Saturday night, as the featherweight icon from Ireland steps up to challenge for the Silent Assassin’s UFC lightweight championship.
Notorious arrives after two fights at the current weight class—both against Nate Diaz—and is yet to post the first defence of his featherweight belt since his destruction of Jose Aldo.
Both men carry phenomenal records, with the champion at 28-4-0, and the challenger on 20-3-0.
The fight represents a clash of styles, as Alvarez pits his aggressive offence against McGregor’s finely tuned attack and mobility.
Here is a look at the latest betting numbers, according to Odds Shark.
The critics of the Irish superstar have been fierce since he has failed to defend his title strap since defeating Aldo inside 13 seconds last December.
Instead, the charismatic champion has gone to war with Diaz in the featherweight division and has now decided to prolong his stay in the classification to challenge the versatile Alvarez.
The Underground King has battled through various MMA organisations to become the UFC’s premier lightweight, but McGregor wants to create history by wearing two belts simultaneously.
Alarvez holds victories against a host of star names and former title holders, including Pat Curran, Michael Chandler, Gilbert Melendez, Anthony Pettis and Rafael dos Anjos. He will be hungry to add McGregor to his list of victims.
However, Notorious was bullish ahead of the fight, once again pointing the finger at his detractors, according to Sean Gibson of the Telegraph:
Wherever I choose to go, I’m prepared to go there.
I feel great at this weight (lightweight). Obviously, it’s tougher to get to featherweight, but I think it’s crazy the way they say I can’t get to featherweight no more or all these crazy things. Like I haven’t gone in there and taken out the whole division as early as last year.
Then they’re talking about stripping [my title] and vacating and all this stuff, it’s like hold on a minute — what did I just go and do there? Am I not champion?
I can defend them both [lightweight and featherweight titles]. Vacate? We’ll see about that. I fight every week.
Alarvez’s forcefulness in the Octagon could mean he is ripe for McGregor’s counter-attack, but if the Philadelphia-born fighter lands first, it could be a painful and quick end to the contest.
The lightweight kingpin questioned whether McGregor has the defensive skill to stop him, per Gibson:
This guy is so offensive-minded and never on the defence, that whenever you put him on the defence he gets so flustered and so upset.
At a certain point in our press conference call he got desperate. He started talking about my wife and kids and things like that. That for me is just a sign of desperation.
If we were in a fight and I was putting him on the defence, I looked at this like this man is just closing his eyes throwing “Bolos”. Just to see him cross that, it’s good. It’s a good sign for me.
Alarvez’s assessment is shrewd: Notorious showed increased discipline in his second fight against Diaz, but he is always looking for the spectacular finish. This will play into the champion’s hands if the Irish master doesn’t do the hard work he needs in order to gain an advantage.
The UFC provided a video preview of the championship fight ahead of the battle to become king at 155 pounds:
McGregor heads into the fight as the slight favourite, but Alvarez has the tools to dismantle his opponent.
He is a superior fighter compared to Diaz, who shocked the world by choking out Notorious in an embarrassing second-round defeat at UFC 196.
Notorious’ confidence is always high ahead of a bout, but Alvarez has a steely aggression and impressive variation to get the job done.
McGregor must be at his best to finish the champion, but the longer the fight goes, the more his chances diminish in the latter rounds at the UFC’s first-ever event in Madison Square Garden.
Alvarez is a natural predator at this weight, and he has the all-round game to defeat MvGregor deep into the championship rounds if the fight goes the distance.
The UFC, for the most part, is not an accurate representation of mixed martial arts. The same goes for this Saturday’s UFC 205.
To casual fans, the MMA they pay attention to may seem like a glitzy and glamorous, albeit violent, affair.
The events are l…
The UFC, for the most part, is not an accurate representation of mixed martial arts. The same goes for this Saturday’s UFC 205.
To casual fans, the MMA they pay attention to may seem like a glitzy and glamorous, albeit violent, affair.
The events are like UFC 202, taking place in front of packed arenas on the always-exciting Las Vegas strip. The competitors are people like ConorMcGregor, who drives a $100,000 car in the afternoon, knocks out some bloke at night and cashes an eight-figure check the next morning. The promotion is seemingly on the up-and-up, no different from the NBA or MLB, always keeping fighters’ interests at heart and watching their backs when things get hairy.
That’s not the reality of MMA.
The reality of MMA is that the vast majority of bouts take place in front of almost completely empty venues. Promoters pay fighters next to nothing, and MMA athletes are little more than bipedal cars in a human demolition derby for fans. They won’t walk any red carpets or become patriotic figures, and they’ll be lucky if they can make enough money to support a spouse and children.
That’s where Eddie Alvarez came from, and that’s what makes his sudden rise to the headlining bout of the biggest event in MMA history so special.
The Underground King
Alvarez was just 20 years old when he won his first MMA title, the aptly named Reality Fighting Welterweight Championship. The fight took place in the unremarkable Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City, New Jersey, in front of a crowd of less than 3,000 against 1-0 fighter Chris Schlesinger.
Still, that was a big step up for Alvarez at the time. His first two legal fights took place in Elizabeth, New Jersey’s RexPlex, a now-closed venue whose most illustrious event was either a youth basketball game or dinosaur-themed miniature golf. The few hundred before that took place in alleyways and parking lots.
Warning: Video contains NSFW language:
“I had already been in maybe 100 street fights before I ever got in a ring or a cage,” he told Ariel Helwani of MMA Fighting. “At that time, when I was 18 or 19 years old, there was no way that someone could convince me that someone could beat me in a fight…I wouldn’t even believe it.”
His street-tested scrappiness translated into the cage (or ring, depending on the promotion). His solid wrestling base complemented natural punching power and after three years, seven stoppage wins and zero defeats, he was one of the hottest welterweights in the United States.
That success, for whatever reason, didn’t attract the attention of the UFC. It did, however, catch the eye of BodogFight, a globetrotting promotion run by internet betting site Bodog.
In short order, Alvarez became one of its staple fighters, competing four times in four countries in locations ranging from the Ice Palace in Saint Petersburg, Russia to the beaches of PlayaTambor, Costa Rica. The stronger competition and increased visibility saw him hit the radar of diehard fans, and his gritty, savage style made him a quick favorite.
Now owning a modicum of name value, Alvarez finally received a steady gig from a notable promotion in 2008: Japan’s Dream FC. While his run was short, it was a crucial chapter in his career that saw him go from internet darling to legitimate high-level lightweight with wins over respected veterans like Joachim Hansen and TatsuyaKawajiri.
Those wins didn’t make him into a star, but they gave him the credibility to get a long-term deal from an ambitious new promotion by the name of Bellator FC.
Blessings in Disguise
In 2009, Bellator FC was a different promotion from today’s Bellator MMA. The Bjorn Rebney-led organization looked to take the sport in a new direction, approaching its title picture the same way the NFL or NBA did: tournaments.
It was a risky approach from both a logistical and entertainment perspective, and it required any long-term signee to demonstrate both competitive legitimacy and a fan-friendly style.
Alvarez fit that role like a glove.
He debuted at Bellator‘s inaugural event, Bellator 1, competing in the tournament to determine the promotion’s first lightweight champion. He defeated imported journeyman Greg Loughran with little trouble and was strapped up as Bellator lightweight champion just two fights later in June 2009.
As Bellator gained momentum as a promotion, Alvarez gained recognition from the larger MMA world. As he continued his winning ways against increasingly stiff competition, Bellator had its first top-10-caliber fighter.
While Alvarez was known for his pure punching power on the regional and international circuit, he became a legitimate all-around talent in Bellator. Training with superior gyms, Alvarez returned more to his wrestling base, evolving his clinch game and refining his takedown skills. His striking took a new form as well, as he stopped wildly blitzing opponents and began utilizing technical boxing skills to out-land and finish opponents.
These improvements saw him begin his Bellator career with six consecutive wins, with five coming via stoppage. His dominance, however, wouldn’t last forever.
In November 2011, Alvarez lost the lightweight title to hot upstart Michael Chandler via submission. The defeat wasn’t especially damaging for Alvarez’s brand—the fight was highly competitive and concluded with a quick ending sequence—but the outcome left him without a clear place in the promotion, given its shallow roster and commitment to producing stars through its tournament system.
Complicating matters further, Bellator was in a state of transition as a whole. Gearing up for a move from MTV2 to Spike TV, it was actively retooling its roster, emphasizing homegrown talent and fan favorites while phasing out veterans who didn’t offer a strong return on investment.
Bellator was seemingly showing Alvarez the door after he dropped the title, as he avenged his past loss to Japanese standout ShinyaAoki in a one-off fight and competed against PatrickyFreire in a non-tournament bout. Because of that, it came as little surprise when news broke that Alvarez had agreed to terms with the UFC in 2012.
What did come as a surprise was Bellator‘s invoking its right to match the UFC’s offer and refusing to let him leave the company. This sparked an ugly legal battle that saw Bellator become one of MMA’s greatest villains. After months of courtroom wrangling (and a yearlong layoff), the two parties would settle, with Alvarez returning at Bellator 106 in November 2013 for a rematch with Chandler.
While Alvarez functionally lost his battle with Bellator, he had spent months at the front of the MMA news cycle. Without throwing a single punch, he went from being a favorite of diehards to one of the most talked-about fighters in the sport. When the day of his return approached, MMA fans were clamoring to see what this so-called “Underground King” had to offer.
At Bellator 106, he showed he had everything they could possibly want.
In the cage-fighting equivalent of a war of attrition, Alvarez and Chandler spent 25 minutes punching pieces off each other. It was a performance that flashed both the grittiness of the man who had torn up New Jersey’s bingo halls and the skillful veteran who had clawed his way to elite status in MMA’s deepest division. Just as importantly, it was a performance that earned him the Bellator lightweight title for a second time.
The Champion of the World
Despite winning the title in dramatic fashion at Bellator 106, Alvarez’s position in the company remained the same. His contract prevented him from leaving. There were no exciting fights. The pay wasn’t good. And, eventually, he was staring at another fight with Chandler.
The rubber match was booked for Bellator 120, and Alvarez was once again put into a high-risk, low-reward matchup…until he wasn’t. A concussion during training forced him to withdraw from the fight and go on the shelf briefly.
That short time, however, saw wholesale changes in the promotion. Led by former Strikeforce founder and CEO Scott Coker, the new leadership structure nixed the transition to pay-per-view and pruned the roster. In August 2014, Bellator unconditionally released Alvarez, who signed with the UFC just 12 hours later.
His first UFC fight, however, did not go especially well. Facing Donald Cerrone on the much-maligned UFC 178 in September 2014, Alvarez struggled to deal with the long reach of Cowboy. While the fight was reasonably competitive, the now-former champ of Bellator came out on the wrong end of a clean-cut 29-28 decision.
While Alvarez was fairly lost after dropping the title in Bellator, the UFC had a clear plan for him. It had amassed a collection of former indy darlings over the years and, as a result, was capable of putting together the dream matches hardcore fans had clamored for in the past.
The UFC pitted Alvarez against former Strikeforce champion Gilbert Melendez in June 2015 and then former WEC champion Anthony Pettis in January 2016, and he defeated both via narrow split decision. Already holding wins over One FC poster boy Aoki and the new face of Bellator, Chandler, Alvarez’s victories over Melendez and Pettis gave him a unique but strong case for a title shot.
Opportunity knocked at International Fight Week leading into UFC 200. With the UFC putting on three cards in as many nights, it looked to include as many of its champions as possible. Reigning lightweight champion Rafael dos Anjos was set to open the action, and Alvarez was the best contender available.
When they faced off at UFC Fight Night 90 in July, Alvarez posted a performance straight out of 2006. After three minutes of back-and-forth action, he landed a picture perfect right hook on the champ. Dos Anjos remained upright, but Alvarez followed it up with a flurry that lasted nearly a full minute. Referee Herb Dean would wave the fight off at 3:49 of Round 1.
Just like that, Alvarez went from Underground King to King of the World. With his hand held high and a new belt around his waist, Alvarez was finally in a position to make the fight game work for him.
Cashing In
Alvarez walked out of UFC Fight Night 90 as the UFC lightweight champion and, arguably, the single greatest lightweight fighter in MMA history. Unfortunately, he didn’t exit the MGM Grand Garden Arena a rich man.
At the post-fight presser (via Yahoo Sports’ Kevin Iole), Alvarez discussed the brutal nature of MMA:
We don’t make a ton of money fighting, especially if you’re not fighting in the UFC. I’d made some investments and I had to sell them, just so I could stay afloat when I was going through that court case…I was really dwindling down toward nothing. My mind was really getting bitter toward MMA. MMA asks everything of you, every inch of your soul. It wants everything, but sometimes it gives back nothing. It tells you when it wants to give back. Every day, I put my heart and soul into it…It’s tough and I dealt with a lot. But I’m a pretty positive guy and I kept my eye at the little light at the end of the tunnel.
Winning a title in the UFC, more often than not, means little in terms of being able to retire comfortably. More than a few former UFC champions have walked away from the sport with a broken body and an empty bank account. Alvarez didn’t want to join that lot, and so he wisely angled for the biggest payday possible.
“I’ve been taking on the top guys in the division, so I might ask Dana White to please give me an easy fight against ConorMcGregor,” he said. “I deserve that. I’ve been fighting the best guys, so I deserve a gimme fight. I would welcome that.”
While he likely knows McGregor is no easy out, it was a brilliant move by the champion that set him up for the fight, and the payday, of his life at Saturday’s UFC 205. It’s long overdue too. It took Alvarez 13 years to get a crack at UFC gold and 11 to get his shot on the sport’s biggest stage.
The lights will be brighter than anything Alvarez has experienced to this point, but that’s not a bad thing. He’s risen to every challenge MMA has put in front of him, and satisfying the biggest audience in the sport’s history will likely wind up being his latest triumph.
Stephen Thompson has cut a swathe through the UFC’s welterweight division on his way to a title shot against champion Tyron Woodley at UFC 205 on November 12.