Eddie Alvarez reveals the real reason he signed with Bare Knuckle FC

Eddie Alvarez had a two decade long MMA career. Photo: ONE Championship

When it was announced that former UFC lightweight champion Eddie Alvarez will be back to fight at Bare Knuckle FC, against fellow UFC veteran Chad Mendes, more than a few people raised an eyebrow.

Talking to MMA Hour, the Philadelphia fighter explained that it was sentimental reasons that was behind his choice to sign with the promotion.

“I got in a lot of street fights when I was younger. I’ve been in way more street fights than I’ve ever been in cage fights, so I remember when I got in fights, fights never lasted five, 10 minutes, 15 minutes, 20, 25 minutes. Fights got figured out in two or three minutes,” Alvarez said.

“A real fight with no gloves got figured out pretty quickly, and this reminded me right away that if you took the gloves off, what takes us 25 minutes today gets figured out pretty quickly in bare-knuckle. It’s about as real as it gets. It reminds me of when I was younger, and it got me excited all over again.”

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Eddie Alvarez: “It’s a new element”

The fact that the former UFC champion has a two decade long MMA career behind him makes bare-knuckle boxing seem like a fresh idea.

“So it’s fun to throw something kind of new at me. Throw in Chad (Mendes), Chad’s a crazy good opponent, fought world champion after world champion, he’s only lost to world-class fighters, and Chad’s a dog. It’s a new element, a new sport, against a worth opponent, so all of it combined, I’m really excited.”

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