Eddie Alvarez as champ

[Antix]

The clips of him being demolished by Conor for the Lightweight Title at MSG are doing the rounds today as it’s the five year anniversary.

I never really followed Eddie’s career that closely in or out of the UFC. My only real memory of him is that night against Conor where he fought like he’d just been pulled out of the crowd selling popcorn.

When you think of Alvarez how do you rate him? Especially as champ? Was he as bad as that fight made him look? I actually thought that title loss was more embarrassing than Aldo’s loss?

 

[Hidden_Hand]

A tough as they come fighter in his time and a threat to anyone, except Mcgregor apparently lol

 

[NickDiaz]

Eddieeeeeeeeeeeeee !!

Eddieeeeeeeeeeeee!!!


All I can remember about Alvarez is how much he wanted a huge payday for his family.

That's all he talked about leading up to the fight

Once he got it he bounced to ONE


That's what I remember about Eddie ..

That and the dirty knee​

 

[snugglecakes]

eddie will never be anything other than the guy getting plooked by nick thompson in the jobber leagues

 

[Mike]

He's one of the best lws ever. He looked bad in that fight, but styles make fights. A bad fight doesn't invalidate an entire career. Its crazy how much disrespect he gets from casuals on here. He has a very impressive resume, better than most ufc lw champs.

 

[Schoolboy Q]

I thought the fight would be more competitive, definitely wasn’t expecting Mcgregor to make him look like a can.

 

[Iron Nick]

@Chael_Sonnen is fairly educated on Alvarez' career, afaik.

 

[Islam Imamate]

He was an elite, top 5 LW for around a decade. Arguably past his prime by the time he came to the UFC. I think it was the 2008 Dream LW tournament that really put him on the map, there he beat Kawajiri and Joachim Hansen who at the time were great wins at LW though he did get tapped by Aoki in the finals. He was only the #1 LW for a short amount of time but in terms of the number of top wins and his longevity he stands out at LW, should be considered among the GOAT of that division

 

[Substance Abuse]

Eddie was shell shocked by the moment against Conor and fought the worst fight possible.

Still he had been a top lightweight for over a decade, has some great wins and has won a title just about everywhere. Eddie is one of the best lightweights of all time in totality despite his apex not being so high.

 

[balsi]

The clips of him being demolished by Conor for the Lightweight Title at MSG are doing the rounds today as it’s the five year anniversary.

I never really followed Eddie’s career that closely in or out of the UFC. My only real memory of him is that night against Conor where he fought like he’d just been pulled out of the crowd selling popcorn.

When you think of Alvarez how do you rate him? Especially as champ? Was he as bad as that fight made him look? I actually thought that title loss was more embarrassing than Aldo’s loss?

He had no answers for the speed. He had no answers for the counter. He had no answers at all for Conor. It was like he was an amateur. This is a guy who finished Justin Gaethje. That night was the end of his career.

 

[humdizzle]

kinda just right place at the right time. he beat chandler in bellator and came to the ufc

lost to cerrone
split dec over giblert
split dec over pettis
then demolished RDA in the title fight.

since then has looked pretty terrible. in his prime he was arguably on the best LWs of his era.

 

[Islam Imamate]

Eddie was shell shocked by the moment against Conor and fought the worst fight possible.

Still he had been a top lightweight for over a decade, has some great wins and has won a title just about everywhere. Eddie is one of the best lightweights of all time in totality despite his apex not being so high.

I don't agree with that, I think Conor was just a terrible match up for him. Eddie has never had a great chin and while he has okay defense, he can be there to be hit. Conor cracks so hard he can change the complexion of a fight with one shot.

 

[Paracetamol]

He was an elite, top 5 LW for around a decade. Arguably past his prime by the time he came to the UFC. I think it was the 2008 Dream LW tournament that really put him on the map, there he beat Kawajiri and Joachim Hansen who at the time were great wins at LW though he did get tapped by Aoki in the finals. He was only the #1 LW for a short amount of time but in terms of the number of top wins and his longevity he stands out at LW, should be considered among the GOAT of that division

Not quite, he did have a war with Kawajiri in the semi-finals where he had to retire from the tournament because of injury. Hansen (who he beat 2 months prior) took his spot in the final (same day as the semi-final) where Hellboy upset TKO'd Aoki in one of the most feel-good moments in MMA. Alvarez was subbed by Aoki at a different event after the tournament.

But yeah thats where I remember him mostly from, during that time he was easily one of the very best LW's in the world. Many people favoured him in a potential superfight clash with BJ Penn.

 

[PrepareForGlory]

He didn't fight that badly vs McGregor. He was flash ko'd by that double left hand very early and it was all downhill from there fighting on autopilot.

He was a dog and I liked him because he was from Philly, where I'm from. He beat a lot of great fighters and is one of the most underappreciated fighters ever, because a lot of his success came outside the UFC. Criminally underrated on this forum.

 

[The Reed]

since then has looked pretty terrible.

Forgot the Gaethje fight.

 

[Mike]

He was an elite, top 5 LW for around a decade. Arguably past his prime by the time he came to the UFC. I think it was the 2008 Dream LW tournament that really put him on the map, there he beat Kawajiri and Joachim Hansen who at the time were great wins at LW though he did get tapped by Aoki in the finals. He was only the #1 LW for a short amount of time but in terms of the number of top wins and his longevity he stands out at LW, should be considered among the GOAT of that division

Thats a great tournament, I've watched it so many times. A lot of newer fans don't seem to know that at that time the best lws were mostly in Japan. It wasn't until years later that they consolidated most of the elite lws in the ufc.

 

[bambammccoy]

I think about him peppering up Chandler and ripping nasty body hooks on Justin when I think of him.

 

[Adamant]

I always enjoyed Alvarez in Bellator. I was disappointed in his UFC run. Not because he didn't win as much, but because UFC never really seemed to care about him.

 

[animepro]

He had a lot of heart but was short and a lot of times looked really tense and stiff in striking exchanges. Don’t think he was ever close to elite and wouldn’t rank him in an all time list

 

[YungSithLxrd]

A tough as they come fighter in his time and a threat to anyone, except Mcgregor apparently lol

Glad to see the praise for him he's a dog for real. Ppl like to shit on him but forget he was giving DP the work in both fights before things went south. And was the first to finish JG. I miss him in the UFC for sure