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Eddie Alvarez on Khabib Nurmagomedov: 'I fight the best, he fights the rest'
UFC lightweight champion Eddie Alvarez is angling for a fight against the winner of the UFC 202 main event matchup between Conor McGregor and Nate Diaz, but there are a couple other lightweights who feel they deserve the next crack at the belt -- namely, No. 1 contender Khabib Nurmagomedov.
But according to Alvarez, Nurmagomedov still has work to do if he wants that title shot.
“Here’s the thing, I fought every top guy,” Alvarez said during a fan Q&A. “When I came into the UFC and I was ranked No. 10, I fought all the guys in front of me [to get to the title]. I didn’t fight No. 30, No. 25, No. 40, No. 50, and then say I want a title shot. I said I wanted to fight that guy because he’s the best, that guy because he’s better than him, then I want to fight the champion.”
Alvarez entered the UFC in 2014 and was immediately matched up with streaking lightweight Donald Cerrone. He’d end up losing that fight by decision, but would go on to earn hard-fought split decisions over former champions Gilbert Melendez and Anthony Pettis to set up a title fight against Rafael dos Anjos.
The win against RDA was Alvarez’s best UFC performance to date, as he blasted the Brazilian with 45 significant strikes en route to a first-round knockout, becoming just the second fighter to beat dos Anjos since 2012.
The other fighter to do so was Nurmagomedov, but that was back in 2014 and he’s only fought once since that victory, a second-round knockout of UFC newcomer Darrell Horcher. So, despite Nurmagomedov’s 23-0 record, Alvarez would like to see him beat a few more notable names before clamoring for a title shot.
“I’m old school, man. I think, if you want to be the best then beat the best guys. If they could put us all in a tournament, that’d be the best way, but they’re not going to do that here at the UFC. So if you’re No. 7, beat 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1 and then say you want the champion. Don’t do it any other way, unless you can’t really say you beat the best guys.
Fair or not, Nurmagomedov has been the No. 1 contender in the UFC lightweight division for a long time, and was inactive due to injuries, not by choice. So one could easily make the argument that he deserves the next title shot over anyone else in the top five.
Alvarez, however, rightfully points out that the division has changed a bit in Nurmagomedov’s absence, with the emergence of guys like Tony Ferguson and Edson Barboza and the resurgence of Nate Diaz. So in Alvarez’s eyes, a win over RDA two years ago followed by a win over an unranked, short-notice opponent shouldn’t be enough to grant anyone a title shot.
“That’s what you do if you want a title shot. You fight the best guys in front of you,” Alvarez said. “You don’t fight No. 30, No. 40 and No. 50, rack up a great record, and then say I want a title shot.
“I fight the best, he fights the rest, that’s how it goes.”
