Officially, Eddie Alvarez attempted three takedowns on Saturday night.
And the former National Prep All-American failed to drag opponent Conor McGregor down to the mat and out of his comfort zone on every single one of them.
Alvarez readily admits that he abandoned the strategy that was laid out for him by head coach Mark Henry in that he stood in boxing range, circled into McGregor’s power hand and didn’t turn the bout into a grappling match.
During an interview with Chael Sonnen on You’re Welcome, ‘The Underground King’ was asked about his struggles in the wrestling department in the UFC 205 headliner and he explained where the issue stemmed from.
“It was all because I didn’t go left,” Alvarez said.
“If I go left then his lead leg is right there for me to grab. If I go right then I’m going away from his lead leg. I literally dug my own grave and it sickens me.
“I watched the tape and if you just go left then the lead leg becomes closer, my right hand finds its range and everything that I do well begins to work.
“But I didn’t. I went right and it was sort of a death sentence.”
Analysts predicting an Alvarez win last weekend pointed to his victory over Anthony Pettis as the blueprint that the defending champion should follow.
But even against the fence, when it looked for all the world that Alvarez was going to put the Irishman on his backside, the takedown was stuffed and the challenger continued to light his opponent up on the feet.
“I’ve been getting on my thing (social media) that I threw the fight,” Alvarez added. “People are telling me that I threw the fight.
“And I literally can understand people’s frustration with me and them telling me that because when I watch the fight personally myself, I see that I did everything to lose this fucking fight. I did everything.
“I couldn’t have done it any worse for myself. I don’t know if it was because I got buzzed in the beginning of the fight. I can’t really put a finger on it.
“I fumbled ten times and you can’t win games by fumbling.”
