"This will be my last shot at lightweight." These are the statements Joel Álvarez had been repeating for months. A phrase that referred to the fight he was going to face Benoit Saint Denis on May 10 at UFC 315 in Canada.
But an injury cut everything short . The fight never happened, and The Phenomenon (as he is nicknamed) decided that it didn't matter that there hadn't been a final fight at lightweight (70.3 kilos), that it was time to move up to welterweight (77.1 kilos), because, being so big, it was difficult for him to make weight.
However, just as Joel Álvarez was planning to make that move up, according to ABC MMA, the world's largest mixed martial arts (MMA) league has other plans for the Asturian. The reality is that
the UFC wants El Fenómeno at lightweight , a division where he is extremely competitive and where he has a good chance of landing the biggest fights. His professional record backs him up: 22 wins, 22 finishes (7 wins in the UFC, 7 finishes), something the American promoter greatly appreciates.
That's why the UFC will continue pushing for Joel Álvarez to continue fighting at lightweight, and will put his plans to move up to welterweight on the back burner. However, in return,
the promotion will have to develop a strategy to give him bigger fights, continuing the momentum they were building in his last fight, which failed to materialize against Benoit Saint Denis. And, if that's the case, the Gijón native would be willing to continue fighting at lightweight, as long as the names are top-tier.
In that context, and although Joel Álvarez is still recovering from a hand injury that kept him out of UFC 315, it is very likely that the next name offered to the Gijón native will be someone from the top 15 or even
the top 10 in the UFC lightweight division , within a timeframe that could include this summer. Before the Asturian makes a career in welterweight, which he will eventually do, the American promoter wants to see how far El Fenómeno can go at lightweight.
www.abc.es
