Eddie Alvarez comes into his match-up against Toby Imada Friday night as the No. 3 ranked lightweight fighter in the world according to most media outlets. We were able to catch up with Eddie in this exclusive interview as he prepares to become Bellator's first-ever lightweight champion.
Q: You are considered Bellator's biggest signing. What made you decide to sign with this promotion?
Alvarez: Well, there was a number of reasons. There were three main reasons. One was the tournament. The fact that it was tournament structure; I wanted to fight in a tournament and Bellator offered that. Two was that they gave me security to worry just about fighting and not worrying about having to pay my bills. They offered a decent amount of money to where I could just focus on my fighting and not have to lose sleep at night as to whether I can pay my mortgage or not. And three was it had some top names, Jorge Masvidal, and now everybody knows Toby Imada, it had some good names and good competition. Those were the three main factors that I looked for. First and foremost, can I take care of my family? Is it gonna do good for my career with the competition? The tournament structure was a big swaying thing because I like fighting a lot of people in a little bit of time.
Q: You got caught early on in your fight with Greg Loughran and you have dominated ever since. Did that punch kind of wake you up?
Alvarez: That happens to me every once in a while, it actually happened before I fought Greg. It happened in like two other fights, I got hit and I got flash-knocked down. It’s not a big deal. I think if you stay down, then it becomes a big deal, but just to get clipped and caught when you’re open, it’s not that big a deal. I recover fast and I’m always working on my defense, so it’s something that won’t happen very often now that I’ve recognized it. But, I just got caught. When you try to throw big punches and finish fights, sometimes you gotta throw caution to the wind and leave yourself open in order to do that. I’m that type of fighter. I take risks.
Q: What are your thoughts on the tournament setting? Have you had to change anything about your training to compensate for it?
Alvarez: I think with the tournament, the biggest thing I’ve learned, because I fought in a tournament right before this tournament, the biggest thing I learned was listening to your body. In order to make it to the next round 100% and healthy and be able to perform at a high-level at each round of the tournament, you have to be 100% healthy. Listen to your body and rest your body when your body needs it and take a day or so off if you feel incomplete. Listening to your body is the biggest thing I had to cope with in the tournament structure and not trying to push through injuries.
Q: What did you think about Imada's submission of Masvidal? Have you ever seen a triangle choke like that?
Alvarez: I’ve seen a few people do it. I’ve never seen anyone get tapped out by it or anyone get submitted by it. It’s something that you know, there are certain guys that practice certain things and if you do them long enough and do them enough times anything can become effective. It looked like Toby was doing that for a while and he set him up beautifully with it. Props to Toby, I mean, the way he set it up, I didn’t realize that he did that move all the time. And then I went back and watched it, you could actually see the way Toby pushed his head in between his legs, he was setting him up the whole time. Props to him, that was cool as hell.
Q: Imada has now won eight fights in a row. What kind of challenges do you think he presents for you in the finals?
Alvarez: He’s a veteran, he’s been around the block, and he’s fought a lot of tough guys. So I don’t think there’s going to be anything that I’m gonna come out and do that’s going to surprise him. I think he’s been around MMA long enough to see everything. I just don’t think he’s fought the type of competition that I’ve fought in recent years. And I don’t feel like he’s fought anybody…I don’t feel like he’s gonna be ready to handle the taste that I’m gonna bring to the fight and deal with all the problems that I have for him.
Q: What part of your fight game do you think has improved the most over the years? What are the weakest and strongest parts of your game?
Alvarez: I think my biggest improvement in fighting period had nothing to do with my physical attributes. I was always very physically gifted and jiu-jitsu came fast to me, wrestling came quick and punching. I think that my biggest improvement by far is my mentality. Fighting in these tournaments and fighting against top name guys you have to improve your mentality and believe in yourself and if you don’t try to strengthen your mind and strengthen your mentality, I don’t think you are gonna to go very far. Physically you can only go so far. My biggest improvement has to be my mind, I’m very self motivated, I’m very confident and I believe in my abilities to perform at a high level all the time. And, I find that what I accept in my mind, my spirit becomes better and I become a better fighter.
Q: What do you do to prepare for a fight? Is it the same every time or does it change depending on who your opponent is?
Alvarez: I treat things to work on the tendencies and weaknesses of my opponent and I may tweak things in my training, but a lot of it has to do with me. I try to control things that, I try to focus on things that I’m able to control. And I’m not able to control my opponent what he’s going to do in the ring and his actions. It’s more of a focus on me and what I’m gonna do. Not so much what he’s gonna do. Like I said, I do play off some of my opponents weaknesses and things of that sort, but I try to improve strength in my weaknesses and the things I feel I need to work on. And when I can play off and try to exploit my opponent’s as well.
Q: What have you been training for to play off Toby Imada’s weaknesses?
Alvarez: I ain’t gon tell you that…I ain’t gon tell nobody that. That would be like going to a marine in the United States and asking how do you plan on bombing Iraq and what’s your strategy and then the general just saying it on national TV.
Q: You have a huge fan base. What does it mean to you to have all those fans cheering for you everywhere you go?
Alvarez: Where I came from in the beginning till now, it means a lot. You don’t realize how many people are watching. And when I’m not training, I’m hanging out with my family and doing stuff with my wife. So I don’t get out much to see how I’m affecting other people or how many people are actually watching. You know, me and my wife went out not too long ago and it’s crazy like, I went out to see a couple friends and you know, random people, the support and love that I’m getting from the people here in Philadelphia and people all over the world, it’s unbelievable. It encourages me to push and be strong and keep me doing what I’m doing. I’m doing a good thing and inspiring other people, and for people that don’t have much, people that came from where I came from to believe in themselves and work harder. If I can inspire even a couple of people then I’m happy with what I’m doing.
Q: Do you think this has increased since the beginning of the Bellator tournament?
Alvarez: Yeah, especially among the Spanish crowd. I got a gym that’s around my old neighborhood and the majority of people in my old neighborhood is all Spanish. Before I fought on Bellator, when I would go to the gym I was just another guy at the gym, you know? And now, all these new guys come into the gym, a lot are Hispanic and are “hey man, you look familiar” I get that a lot now. “you look familiar, you fight on TV” So a lot of people in the Hispanic community are tuning in to ESPN Deportes and watching Bellator. So yeah, it’s worth it.
Q: What are your thoughts on competing in Bellator so far and how does this promotion stack up to others you have fought in?
Alvarez: So far my experience in Bellator has been great. We fought at the Hard Rock and we fought in Dayton, Ohio. The pays been good, the productions been great. The production value of each show, you know watching it on TV, it looks like a quality good product that is gonna make it. And even the shows themselves, the Toby Imada submission of the year, that guy’s spinning back fist made probably knockout of the year, some of the stuff that’s being put on make noise. Not just in the Bellator promotion, but in all the promotions. There doing big things and I’m happy where I’m at, I’m happy.
Q: What would a Bellator Lightweight title mean to Eddie Alvarez?
Alvarez: Right now, the short term goal of mine is to get the belt and the long term goal is for me to defend it and to be the champion. And it’s everything that I put my heart and soul into for the past six months to a year preparing for this final. I put a small piece of my life into winning this title and I’m putting everything I can out and there’s no doubt in my mind that come June 19th that I’ll have my title and will continue to be a champion of Bellator.
Q: How motivated are you to win for your hometown?
Alvarez: To win for my city? Man, the people here and the love that I get here in Philly, I don’t need much to wake up in the morning. That’s all I gotta say, especially with the fighters. They’re behind you 100% and they’re loyal, win or lose. So I have a lot of friends and a lot of people that follow me in my hometown. I love them for that, and I think that regardless of how I do they’re just happy that I came from where I came from and I’m able to do a positive thing, that’s all.
Q: When you last fought in Dayton, you promised big things for the finals, can you elaborate?
Alvarez: This will be my best performance to date, June 19th will be my absolute performance to date. I plan on going out and displaying every act of MMA, to show the viewers that don’t know what MMA is and don’t quite understand the sport…I want to display every aspect of that to them that Bellator fighting is here to stay and we’re going to put on exciting shows. You’re going to see well rounded fighters, the best fighters in the world fight for this promotion. And just showing all aspects of the game, takedowns, jiu-jitsu, standup and showing everything and showing people how cool it is to transition from one martial arts to the other and that’s what this sport’s about.
Q: What's next for Eddie Alvarez? Strikeforce says you will fight for them in the fall. The UFC has been trying to sign you for some time now. You obviously have a lot of options. What does the future hold for Eddie Alvarez?
Alvarez: The only future that I’m thinking about is, I’m thinking about capturing the Bellator lightweight belt and relaxing for a couple weeks with my family. I’ve been going crazy. I fought in the DREAM lightweight tournament before this, I fought Ayoki at New Year’s and that was right after my five fights last year, I took this tournament. So I’ve fought a lot of times in the last year or so and I’ve been very active and I feel like my body and my mind just needs to rest, relax and chill with my wife and my kids. Just relax a little bit. I’m kind of leaving it all on the map right now, emptying my gas tank and by the time the fights come, I’m not gonna have much to give MMA for a little bit. I just wanna finish up hard, show one of the best performances people are going to see in a long time and relax and rest and see what comes in the months ahead.
Q: Any final words for all of your fans out there?
Alvarez: Thank everyone, hoping people tune in, it’s gonna be a monster disappointment if you don’t tune in. I’m going to perform at a very high level and this is going to be something to see. I’m excited to see it. So if I’m excited, then you should be, then tune in. I also want to thank my wife and kids for allowing me to do what I do and that’s really it.
