Eddie Alvarez is hellbent on trouncing One Championship fighters until he adds another title to his honor roll

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Eddie Alvarez is hellbent on trouncing One Championship fighters until he adds another title to his honor roll
Eddie Alvarez.Photo by George Calvelo/NurPhoto via Getty Images
  • Eddie Alvarez returns to MMA April 7 for a One Championship lightweight bout against Iuri Lapicus.
  • Alvarez told Insider that he will put Iuri Lapicus "through the fire" when they meet.
  • This is because he's determined to add One's belt to the UFC and Bellator titles he has already won.
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Star American fighter Eddie Alvarez is hellbent on trouncing his One Championship opponents until he adds another title to his hulking honors roll.

"I don't see anybody getting in my way at 170-pounds," Alvarez told Insider during a recent Zoom call.

Alvarez, 37, is one of the most decorated mixed martial artists competing today. He is a former UFC champion and a former two-time Bellator MMA champion.

Additionally, with notable victories over Shinya Aoki, Michael Chandler, Anthony Pettis, Rafael dos Anjos, and Justin Gaethje, he has already forged a remarkable legacy in fighting.

He's not done yet, and wants to become the only combat athlete to win titles in the UFC, Bellator, and One Championship.

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Alvarez talked to Insider from behind a desk inside the office of his North Hampton, Philadelphia home, where he has reserved a space on the shelves behind him for a One Championship title he has vowed to win.

In a wide-ranging discussion, Alvarez spoke about Conor McGregor's prospective trilogy with Dustin Poirier, how his fellow American fighter Michael Chandler could win the UFC title, and how MMA provided transferrable skills to pandemic life.

Life is best when you maintain a positive outlook, Alvarez said

Alvarez has been competing in pro MMA since 2003. After an eight-fight run with the UFC, he left the Las Vegas-based company to sign a deal with One Championship in Singapore.

He is 1-1 in the promotion so far, losing to Timofey Nastyukhin in March 2019 before submitting Eduard Folayeng with a rear-naked choke little more than four months later.

Alvarez did not compete in 2020. His April 7 fight against Iuri Lapicus, which will be broadcast in the US on TNT and B/R Live, is his first match in the pandemic-era.

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He told Insider that MMA gave him a good foundation for dealing with the mental strains of the pandemic.

"I'm a martial artist in and out [of the cage], and I believe that when bad things happen in life you pivot, you adjust, and you keep a good attitude.

"If you do those three things with any kind of adversity in your life, I believe you'll do well," said Alvarez. "A positive perspective can have a profound effect on your life.

"With my family we pivoted, we adjusted, and we kept a good attitude throughout 2020 in the pandemic. We got the pool guy to open the pool up, I got it heated because it was a little bit early and we enjoyed ourselves and our home."

Life as a fighter can often mean time away from where you live, either for training camps in other locations, or fight events in major combat cities.

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Alvarez, for instance, has competed in Atlantic City, Boston, and Las Vegas in the US, Costa Rica, Canada, Russia, Japan, and the Philippines. On April 7 he competes in Singapore for the first time.

The pandemic, though, allowed him much-needed time at home.

"I bought a big, beautiful home and sometimes I'm not even in it because I'm training, and we don't have a chance to enjoy the rewards of the work we've put in.

"Me and my wife got a chance to sit back and enjoy our family," he said. "We stopped and smelled the roses."

It's strap season for belt-collecting combat star Eddie Alvarez

Eddie Alvarez is hellbent on trouncing One Championship fighters until he adds another title to his honor roll
Alvarez.Photo by Dennis Jerome Acosta/Pacific Press/LightRocket via Getty Images

When Insider spoke to Alvarez, he had not yet left the US for his bout at the Singapore Indoor Stadium in Kallang.

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But he had started his camp, which he said was excellent, and added that he was striving for as punch-perfect a performance as possible.

"I've not been doing anything too special as we're honing in on having good, solid fundamentals, and making sure we're clean and not making mistakes.

"I'm preparing myself to get ready for a championship fight. Having championship fights are about making fewer mistakes. It's not about being overly offensive. It's about mitigating risk. That's where we're at," Alvarez said.

He fights Iuri Lapicus, a Moldovan submission specialist with a pro MMA record of 14 wins (four knockouts and 10 submissions), who is looking to rebound from his sole loss to the current champ Christian Lee in October.

"I know [Lapicus has] got a strong judo background and he prefers to grapple, but that's my strong suit," Alvarez said. "I'm an All-American wrestler. I've wrestled a large part of my High School career.

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"I know he prefers to go there but he trains with [elite kickboxer] Giorgio Petrosyan - one of the best striking coaches in the world, so I'll sure he'll be prepared on that front, too. I'm looking forward to an excellent fight."

Lapicus has never once gone the distance in a fight. His loss against Lee in October came by knockout, and all his victories have come by knockout or submission.

Will this fight go the same way? "Maybe so but I'm in no rush. I'll get the job done, either way," said Alvarez.

"We can go for a high pace, or we can take our time. He can choose his route of destruction. I don't discriminate.

"It will be my hand that's raised at the end of the night and I'll be moving on. I think he's a formidable opponent with a great record, but I don't think he's been through the heat just yet and we're going to put him through fire."

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Alvarez has the One Championship title in his crosshairs

Eddie Alvarez is hellbent on trouncing One Championship fighters until he adds another title to his honor roll
One Championship titleholder Christian Lee.Photo by Power Sport Images/Getty Images

Victory over Lapicus would advance Alvarez's pro MMA record to 31 wins against seven losses with a two wins against one loss record in One.

He told us that the competition level in the Asian organization is "incredible," adding: "Especially the competition at the welterweight division which is a buzzsaw at One Championship. There's killer, after killer, after killer."

The weight classes in One differ to those in American MMA. The lightweight division limit at One is 170-pounds, rather than the 155-pound cut-off at the UFC or Bellator.

This means Alvarez is technically competing at welterweight. "I think I'm a little undersized for this division," he said.

"So I have to use other attributes like my speed and footwork to gain an advantage against these guys, but I see it as a challenge and I don't see anybody getting in my way. I'm looking forward to the competition."

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He finished by remarking that one goal at One Championship motivates him to more than any other - winning another belt.

"I've got an empty shelf here and that's reserved for the One belt," he said. "Where that shelf is empty, that's where the belt is going. Then we'll have all the titles."

That belt currently belongs to Christian Lee, a 22-year-old fighting phenom who One Championship boss Chatri Sityodtong waves lyrical about.

Sityodtong told Insider last year that Lee was already so good he'd be confident that the fighter could beat any 155-pound to 170-pound athlete on the planet - including Khabib Nurmagomedov.

A future match-up between Alvarez and Lee is a foregone conclusion providing the youngster keeps the belt, Alvarez said.

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"If that belt stays around his waist then we will be fighting," he said.

"Every organization I've ever fought for, I have held their world title. And One will be no different. If he's the world champion, then I'll be seeing him very soon."

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