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Eddie Alvarez has named the UFC fighter he doesn’t wish to compete against in a rematch. Alvarez alluded to lightweight Justin Gaethje being a great fighter and noted that he doesn’t want to fight 'The Highlight' again.
Former UFC lightweight champion Eddie Alvarez recently put forth a piece of advice for Michael Chandler, suggesting that he ought to refrain from fighting Justin Gaethje. In response to Alvarez advising him to stay away from Gaethje, Chandler asserted that he will knock the former UFC interim lightweight champion out.
Eddie Alvarez has reacted to Michael Chandler’s assertion and once again suggested that 'Iron' shouldn’t fight Gaethje. Below is the tweet that Alvarez put forth regarding the same –
Eddie Alvarez’s tweet reads as follows:
“I’m always rooting for ya Mike but there are a lot of things I can do that You just Can’t my friend. All the positive thinking in the world just won’t get ya there. Good Luck with Justin. He’s a Tornado of fist and kicks that I have No desire to rematch ever again.”
Eddie Alvarez and Michael Chandler are no strangers, having competed in a pair of professional MMA bouts against one another under the Bellator MMA promotional banner.
The first fight witnessed Chandler defeat Alvarez via fourth-round submission and win the lightweight title at Bellator 58 (November 2011). On the contrary, the rematch between Eddie Alvarez and Michael Chandler saw the former win via split decision to claim the lightweight title at Bellator 106 (November 2013).
Eddie Alvarez has fought Justin Gaethje as well. Alvarez defeated Gaethje via third-round KO at UFC 218 (December 2017). 'The Underground King' was the first fighter to defeat Gaethje in the latter’s professional MMA career.
Justin Gaethje has just three losses on his MMA record – to former UFC lightweight champions Eddie Alvarez and Khabib Nurmagomedov, and to former interim UFC lightweight champion Dustin Poirier.
Eddie Alvarez aims to win a title in ONE Championship; Michael Chandler and Justin Gaethje continue working towards UFC gold
Eddie Alvarez has been competing in ONE Championship for the past few years. Alvarez, who used to compete at lightweight in the UFC, has been working towards capturing the ONE Championship lightweight title.
One ought to note that the lightweight division in ONE Championship is the 170-pound weight class and not the 150-pound weight class. Eddie Alvarez’s most recent fight was a unanimous decision loss against Ok Rae Yoon at ONE on TNT 4 (April 28th, 2021).
Justin Gaethje is coming off a second-round submission loss against Khabib Nurmagomedov in their lightweight title unification matchup at UFC 254 (October 24th, 2020). Meanwhile, Michael Chandler is coming off a second-round TKO loss in his lightweight title fight against Charles Oliveira at UFC 262 (May 15th, 2021).
While the consensus is that the UFC could very well book a fight between Justin Gaethje and Michael Chandler, the former might end up taking another fight as the latter is likely to be out of action for a few months due to his recent knockout loss.
What are your views on Eddie Alvarez’s statements? Sound off in the comments!
