ONE Championship: Eddie Alvarez loses decision to Ok Rae-yoon as lightweight title shot hopes fade
- Former UFC champ gets dropped in first round of ONE on TNT 4 co-main event in Singapore
- South Korean utilises range and height advantage to keep Alvarez at bay and secure shock victory
Eddie Alvarez’s torrid time in ONE Championship continued with a unanimous decision defeat by Ok Rae-yoon on Thursday morning in Singapore.
The South Korean Ok (15-3) dropped former UFC lightweight champ Alvarez with a huge right hand in the first round, and was close to getting the 37-year-old American (30-8) out of there. Alvarez clung on and survived a barrage of ground and pound to take it back to the feet, but it was a dominant first round for Ok.
The No 5-ranked lightweight was able to use his range and height advantage to keep Alvarez at bay for the rest of the fight, with “The Underground King” unable to secure takedowns and effectively utilise his grappling.
Defeat leaves Alvarez’s hopes of a title shot against lightweight champion Christian Lee in tatters, with Ok now possibly in pole position to face “The Warrior” – who has beaten the top four contenders in his division already.
“I still can’t believe if this is real, it’s surreal,” Ok said during the post-event interviews. “I’m very happy I got to complete against great athletes like Marat Gafurov, who used to No 5, and Eddie Alvarez who is a legend, and very happy I won.”