One Championship moment of truth for Eddie Alvarez as he admits ‘sometimes I just lose my head’
- Ahead of do-or-die One Championship clash with Eduard Folayang, former UFC champion talks candidly about the mistakes he has made
- ‘To be more intelligent would serve me better. But sometimes I let the crowd get a hold of me,’ Alvarez says
Eddie Alvarez is relaxed on media day in Manila. He’s taking pictures with babies and smiling through every interview. But he knows it’s go time.
“I’m looking at this as a win situation. We’re not leaving Manila with a loss,” the 35-year-old former UFC champion tells the Post at the City of Dreams Ballroom.
Alvarez positioned himself in preparation for this camp in New Jersey, away from his family, and put in the proper sacrifice to be ready to go out and execute. He had to. Coming off a devastating first round TKO defeat by Russian knockout artist Timofey Natsyukhin on his One Championship debut at the end of March, in the quarter-finals of the lightweight grand prix, there was no choice.
“I’ve lost before, it’s in the past. It’s never about a loss or a win, you never let one define you as a fighter. What defines me is consistently improving and getting better at my sport,” Alvarez says.
“I truly improved so much going into that fight and I never got the chance to show it. So I knew when I got the opportunity to get another opponent under me, I would take it. It’s gonna be Eduard, and I’m gonna show it this time.”
That’s Eduard Folayang, the two-time former One lightweight champion who will be the home hero on Friday night at the Mall of Asia Arena.
Alvarez calls it the “Thrilla in Manila” (the fight has even got its own official T-shirt). He’s going into the lion’s den. But has he ever been up against this kind of pressure?