“Please take a ticket and join the Red Panty Night queue, Mr Alvarez. Your buddy Frankie has been waiting a while.”
Number one lightweight contender Eddie Alvarez hopes Rafael dos Anjos destroys Conor McGregor’s dreams of making UFC history at UFC 196.
Speaking on Monday’s MMA Hour, the former 155 lb Bellator champion thinks that the Brazilian will cruise to victory if he manages to get the fight to the mat.
“For me it’s a very simple fight for RDA to win, but he needs to implement a ground attack. If he doesn’t, I honestly feel like he can get knocked out just like the other guys that Conor was able to knock out.”
Alvarez admitted that the Notorious has the advantage on the feet and if RDA wishes to be Notorious, he needs to ensure that he stays away from trading as much as possible.
He believes that dos Anjos’ striking isn’t as elite as some make it out to be and that trying to prove himself as a striker rather than finding the easiest route to victory could have disastrous effects.
“He can’t allow it to be mostly striking. I hate when guys who are from a Brazilian jiu jitsu background and a good wrestling background abandon their whole base and their whole fundamental because a lot of guys around them are telling them that they are really good strikers.”
“I hope that RDA doesn’t do that. I hope that he sticks to what he’s good at and wins the fight in a dominant fashion the way that he can; the way that I feel like a lot of guys can who aren’t doing it against Conor.”
The obvious counterargument to this theory is McGregor’s stunning second round knockout against Chad Mendes, arguably the most explosive wrestler in the division. Mendes managed to get the Dubliner down to the ground for a large portion of the fight, but McGregor found a way to get the fight back standing and turn off the lights with that patented Celtic cross.
Alvarez argues that Mendes being a short-term replacement affected his performance on the night.
“Mendes is primarily a wrestler, correct? In order to implement a wrestling attack, it takes a tonne of energy and a tonne of conditioning and training. You can’t roll off the couch and implement a wrestling attack against a guy. It’s just not going to happen.”
“You need to be conditioned you need to be in shape. So, if you’re a wrestler and you’re rolling off the couch for a fight, you have no weapons. Your only weapon – wrestling – is no good, because you’re not conditioned. If you’re a wrestler, you need to be conditoned in order to implement your strengths. You can’t do that on a ten day notice.”
Alvarez summed up his analysis by predicting a dismal night for Irish fans on March 5. Not only does he expect dos Anjos to get the victory, but he thinks it could be an extremely dominant defence for the undisputed lightweight champion.
“I honestly feel like he’ll look foolish. It could be an embarrassment. It could be like everyone in the crowd going, ‘Wow, that was it? Why didn’t anyone else do that?’ It could be that surprising to people. That’s how I feel. We just haven’t seen him there.”
