Seven months later, the former lightweight king faced a gung-ho Justin Gaethje in a classic slugfest and won by knockout. It was a huge confidence booster for Alvarez as he prepares to rematch Poirier, whose last victory was also a knockout of Gaethje.
Before Alvarez and Poirier settle their unfinished business at UFC on Fox 30, here are some of the numbers that have come to define “The Underground King.” Their fight will take place at the Scotiabank Saddledome in Calgary, Alberta, Canada on July 28.
4: Promotions where he became champion. In his third professional fight, Alvarez captured the inaugural Reality Fighting welterweight title, and in 2006, he starched future UFC star Aaron Riley for the Maximum Fighting Championship (later BodogFIGHT) welterweight strap. His move to lightweight was highlighted by titles at Bellator MMA and the UFC. To this date, he remains the only fighter to earn championships in both of those promotions.
7: Former champions defeated. Alvarez has faced a who’s who of both the welterweight and lightweight divisions and holds notable victories over former champions Justin Gaethje, Rafael dos Anjos, Anthony Pettis, Gilbert Melendez, Michael Chandler, Shinya Aoki and Pat Curran.
16: Wins by KO or TKO. Acclaimed as one of the better boxers in MMA, the majority of these victories were started or finished by punches. In his most recent bout, however, he dropped and finished Gaethje with a devastating knee.
7: Wins by submission. The Brazilian jiu-jitsu brown belt under Ricardo Almeida has compiled submission victories by rear naked choke, guillotine choke, arm triangle, and heel hook.
5: Losses, all at the hands of elite-level competition. His conquerors include Conor McGregor, Donald Cerrone, Michael Chandler, Shinya Aoki and Nick Thompson, to whom he lost his BodogFight welterweight title.
2: Fights with Michael Chandler. He lost the belt to Chandler via rear-naked choke at Bellator 58. “Iron” held the belt for two years until he met Alvarez again at Bellator 106 and lost by split decision.
170: Lbs. and 5’9” in height, Alvarez was undersized as a welterweight, yet he spent his first 11 fights in the division until his loss to Thompson. It was during this time when he seized titles at Reality Fighting and MFC. Alvarez debuted successfully at lightweight in July 2007 against Matt Lee.
2: Minutes and 44 seconds to finish Greg Loughran at Bellator’s maiden event. It was a historic night where Alvarez showed tremendous resilience. After getting rocked with a powerful left hook, Alvarez went on to submit his adversary.
45: Significant strikes against dos Anjos’s 12 in their UFC lightweight title bout. The fight was stopped at 3:49 in the first round after the underdog, Alvarez swarmed his opponent with punches.
1: Award from Sherdog. In the finals of the 2008 Dream Lightweight Grand Prix, he knocked out Japanese powerhouse Tatsuya Kawajiri in the 7:35 mark of the first round. The thrilling battle earned “Fight of the Year” honors for the two combatants.