Eddie Alvarez: Beating Conor McGregor is 'simple'
Now that featherweight champion Conor McGregor is heading up to lightweight, top contender Eddie Alvarez has spent some time thinking about the brash Irishman. As a top contender in the division, Alvarez has his eyes on the matchup, however, he seems to think that McGregor’s next opponent, Rafael dos Anjos, shouldn’t have much trouble in their title fight at UFC 196.
"There's a simple way to win against this guy and nobody seems to be doing it. It's really frustrating to watch," he told The MMA Hour, this week.
"The guy hasn't been in the fight we need to see him in . . . Nobody's implemented an attack and when someone does, it's over. This whole show's over. The whole goddamn spectacle's over. I don't know why no one's doing it. It's very frustrating."
If the Brazilian jiu-jitsu black belt is disciplined enough to focus on making the fight a ground one, Alvarez believes that dos Anjos should make easy work of McGregor. "For me, it's a very simple fight for RDA to win," he continued.
"But he needs to implement a ground attack. If he don't, I honestly feel like he can get knocked out, just like the other guys Conor was able to knock out. But he can't allow it to be mostly of a striking."
Alvarez seemed genuinely irritated at the idea of grapplers abandoning their strengths to stand and bang. "I hate when guys who are from a BJJ background and a good wrestling background abandon their whole base and their whole fundamental because a lot of guys around them are telling them that they're really good strikers.” Alvarez said.
"I hope he sticks to what he's good at and wins the fight in a dominant fashion the way he can, the way I feel like a lot of guys can that aren't doing it against Conor."
McGregor challenges dos Anjos for the UFC's lightweight strap on March 5 at UFC 196 from Las Vegas.
