Freshly minted UFC lightweight champ Eddie Alvarez would like to arrange a playdate with the winner of UFC 202’s massive main event and he’s not interested in hiccups like rankings and weight classes that might get in the way.
As reported by MMA Fighting, Alvarez chatted about his future plans with SiriusXM Rush’s The Countdown. Instead of hard selling a potential fight with lightweight division contenders like Khabib Nurmagomedov, Tony Ferguson or recent opponent (and former champ) Rafael dos Anjos, the 32-year-old Philly fighter has his eye on next month’s highly anticipated McGregor vs. Diaz rematch. He’s prepared for the challenge and the money that comes from a fight of that profile.
“Initially I want the winner of Conor-Nate. I would like a big pay-per-view, big money fight. I’m willing to wait for one of them guys. I almost got in a fight with Nate in Mexico City so maybe we can settle our differences, and if Conor happens to win I welcome that fight as well.
“The number one contender in my weight class has fought once in about the last three years or something. So I’m a little nervous about fighting a guy like that who barely shows up to fight. So Conor and Nate, they’re the guys on my radar, one of them I’d really like to get my hands on.”
Thanks to McGregor, it’s been a bit tricky to get the toothpaste back in the tube when it comes to the status of the featherweight belt and a bout against the toast of the lightweight division would likely gum up the works all the more. Of course, you can’t blame a fighter for wanting the colossal “red panties” paydays.
Alvarez has reason to be confident about those potential matchups. He hasn’t lost since 2014 (UFC 178 against Donald Cerrone, to be exact) and his impressive first round TKO of the mighty dos Anjos boosts his stock all the more. According to Alvarez, “rankings are subjective anyway.”
“Look at the case between Tony Ferguson and Khabib. Tony Ferguson is 8-0, he’s been active for the last God-knows-how-what, he’s been finishing opponents, been on a tear; Khabib’s fought once in three years and he’s number one and he decides he wants a title shot? The last guy he beat was virtually un-ranked – maybe top 100 in the world – and he’s the number one guy in the world. So who says that? Who makes that up? Who appoints him number one? That being said, make the fights that make sense. Make the fights the fans want to see. Who gives a sh*t about the rankings?”
Alvarez predicts that Diaz will win his next go-around with McGregor, but let’s use Uproxx FutureVision to see how Jose Aldo will react if McGregor gets wrangled into a fight with Alvarez next, shall we?
Checks out. Root for Nate, Jose.
(via MMA Fighting)
