'Most violent man in the UFC' Eddie Alvarez wants 'big, mega fight' after KO of Justin Gaethje

Eddie Alvarez is looking forward to getting a juicy new UFC contract after being “crowned” as the “Most Violent Man” in the UFC with a third-round knockout of Justin Gaethje at UFC 218 this past weekend.

Alvarez (29-5 MMA, 4-2 UFC) said he has one fight remaining on his current contract following the memorable “Fight of the Night” matchup with Gaethje (18-1 MMA, 1-1 UFC), which took place at Little Caesars Arena in Detroit and aired on pay-per-view, and he is looking forward to renegotiating with the organization.

The former UFC and Bellator lightweight champion had to endure a lot of punishment to get the win over Gaethje. Both fighters were transported to the hospital immediately after the bout, but Alvarez knows the thrilling affair bettered his position in the weight class, as well as his leverage in contract negotiations.

“I actually have one fight left with the UFC,” Alvarez said in his first post-fight interview with 93.3 WMMR in Philadelphia. “I’ve finished all my fights, and I have one fight left in my contract. It’s time to sit down with the boss man and talk about long-term, talk about how we’re going to do this thing and what big, mega-fight we can have coming up.”

Alvarez did not name any potential opponents he’d like to face next, which will surely come as a disappointment to Dustin Poirier (22-5 MMA, 14-4 UFC), who has been pleading for a rematch with Alvarez since their controversial no-contest at UFC 211 in May.

All Alvarez cares about at this point is that he earned the label of “Most Violent Man” in the UFC, which was a title he and Gaethje made up in the weeks leading up to their anticipated fight.

“I’m the most violent man in the UFC,” Alvarez said. “They can take the No. 1, 2 and 3 (ranking). I’ll just take that title, and I’ll keep it. I’ve been crowned. … We went in to make a point. My performances in the UFC, I’ve been trying to win. Win, win, win. I’ve been so focused on winning that the performance itself wasn’t showing my true colors. We went in here with just the idea of, ‘Just be as violent as we can.’ The byproduct of that would be a win.”

Alvarez provided an update on his health, revealing, “Everything that happened in the fight is all soft tissue.” He said he has no structural damage, and other than some lingering effects of Gaethje’s leg kicks and some facial bruising, he felt OK.

The back-and-forth fight with Gaethje helped Alvarez bounce back from a two-fight winless drought, which began when he dropped the 155-pound belt to Conor McGregor at UFC 205 in November 2016. The no-contest with Poirier came after that, putting Alvarez on dangerous grounds.

After coaching Season 26 of “The Ultimate Fighter” reality series opposite his opponent, Alvarez finished Gaethje with a brutal third-round knee. He landed a few extra shots on the former WSOF champ before the referee stepped in, and although it made his win all the more violent, Alvarez said he wishes that wasn’t the case.

“He was (out after the knee),” Alvarez said. “I put my hands up in the air immediately. I did not want to hit him anymore after that. I felt it; he felt it. The ref, I’m not going to say he was late, but I didn’t want to hit him anymore. I felt it clean. That’s a guy – he’s like I am. You give him a split-second, and he’s back in the fight, and you have to fight him all over again.”

For complete coverage of UFC 218, check out the UFC Events section of the site.