Eddie Alvarez Says Khabib Nurmagomedov’s Only Interested in Fighting “Wounded Gazelles”
By FCF Staff
Although Eddie Alvarez likely won’t be next for Khabib Nurmagomedov, the former lightweight champ continues to fire verbal warnings at the new champ.
Alvarez has been arguing for sometime that he’s the only lightweight who can defeat Nurmagomedov, and that hasn’t changed, since the latter won the title at UFC 223 earlier this month, by defeating Al Iaquinta.
Alvarez was on hand at UFC Fight Night 128 in Atlantic City on Saturday, and while talking to MMA Junkie, he said this:
“I seriously have no control over who gets the shot, so I don’t really focus on it,” Alvarez said. “If they want to give Dustin (Poirier) a title shot, hell, give him a title shot. Do I think he’ll do well? Probably not. But it’s not up to me. Give him a shot, let him do what he wants to do, and that’ll be that.
“I know, 100 percent, matchup-wise, wrestling, stylistically, I watch the champion fight a lot. I am the guy to beat the champion. Not Dustin Poirier. Not Conor McGregor. Not anyone. I understand who I lost to, who I won (against). I’m the best style matchup. The champion don’t want to fight me right now. He knows. He’s going to pick off the wounded gazelles one by one. He’s going to take the good style matchups. I understand. Take them. I’ll be waiting in the end.”
In Alvarez’s last bout, in December, he stopped Justin Gaethje. The former Bellator champ lost the UFC’s 155 title to McGregor in 2016.