Eddie Alvarez

By FCF Staff

Saygid Guseyn Arslanaliev has turned heads to date in his run with ONE Championship and has advanced to the finals of the promotion’s lightweight grand prix. But, the man who will face him in the finals, Eddie Alvarez, doesn’t believe the rising fighter’s been truly tested.

The fighters will battle at ONE Championship’s “Century” card, which will take place on October 13th in Tokyo, Japan. Arslanaliev has gone 8-1 to begin his career, and he’s scored finishes in all of his victories.

But, while speaking to MMA Junkie recently, Alvarez (30-7) had this to say about the upcoming contest:

“I’ve been 10-0 with all knockouts in the first round,” Alvarez said. “I’ve been there in my career. I’ve been there, and I’ve never been in a real fight, so the idea is to put this guy in a real fight, and people who dominate the way he does and don’t get out of the first round the way he does, the idea is to put these guys in a fight – in a real fight against a real fighter, and then they get to really check who they are inside. So we want to get him to dig deep a little bit.”

The former Bellator and UFC champ Alvarez is coming off a first round, submission win over Eduard Folayang in the tourney semifinals. Arslanaliev, meanwhile, knocked out Amir Khan in his semifinal bout.