Eddie Alvarez

Eddie Alvarez (born January 11, 1984) is an American professional mixed martial artist and bare-knuckle boxer who most recently competed in the Welterweight division of BKFC.

He also formerly competed in the UFC and Bellator MMA, and also One FC winning world titles in each of the first two: the UFC Lightweight Championship once and the Bellator Lightweight World Championship twice.

Alvarez was the first Lightweight champion in Bellator MMA.

He has also competed for the Japanese DREAM promotion, where he fought in their inaugural Lightweight Grand Prix.

Alvarez also fought once for ProElite's EliteXC.

Alvarez is the first fighter to have won championships in both Bellator MMA and the UFC.

He holds notable wins over former world champions Pat Curran, Michael Chandler, Shinya Aoki, Gilbert Melendez, Justin Gaethje, Anthony Pettis, Eduard Folayang, Patricky Freire and Rafael dos Anjos.

Fight Matrix ranks him #3 All-Time Lightweight in the world (behind Khabib Nurmagomedov and B.J. Penn).

Edward, the son of Louis and Lillian Alvarez, grew up in Kensington, Philadelphia and is of Puerto Rican and Irish descent.

He started boxing at Front Street Gym at the age of eight under his father and Frank Kubach.

At the age of 11, Alvarez started wrestling in a youth wrestling program.

He went to Northeast Catholic High School, excelling and becoming a varsity letterman in football, wrestling and track.

Despite receiving partial scholarship offers to wrestle in various colleges after graduating in 2001, he decided to pursue a career in mixed martial arts.

Eddie has a younger brother, Albert, who is a former mixed martial artist.

Alvarez claims to have fought over 100 unsanctioned bouts before starting as a professional fighter as there were no amateur fights available.

He paid $250 for a slot in Ring of Combat 5 to start his professional mixed martial arts career in 2003.

Alvarez won the MFC Welterweight Championship in his seventh professional fight in June 2006, when he defeated Derrick Noble via KO at 1:01 of the first round.

The MFC Welterweight Championship would later be re-branded the BodogFIGHT Welterweight Championship.

In spite of the fact that many insiders did not consider 170 pounds to be Alvarez's best competitive fighting weight, he continued to fight larger opponents, as he relished testing his mettle against bigger fighters.

At Bodog Fight's "Clash of the Nations" pay per view in Russia on April 14, 2007, Alvarez's size disadvantage would be exposed, as he suffered his first career loss when he was TKO'd by UFC veteran Nick Thompson at 4:32 into round 2.

After deciding to leave Bodog, Alvarez signed with EliteXC.

He competed in their 160-pound division against Ross Ebanez, winning by TKO.

A few weeks prior to the first event, it was announced that the Japanese promotion DREAM, started by the minds behind PRIDE FC and K-1 had signed Alvarez to compete in their 154-pound grand prix.

His first fight was against Andre Amade, who hailed from the Chute Boxe Academy.

Alvarez won via TKO due to strikes late in the first round.

Alvarez advanced to the second round of the tournament, where he defeated top-ranked Lightweight fighter Joachim Hansen on May 11, 2008, by unanimous decision.

In his fight at the Dream 5: Lightweight Grand Prix 2008 Final Round, Alvarez knocked out top-ranked Lightweight fighter Tatsuya Kawajiri in the tournament's semi-finals.

The fight was awarded Fight of the Year by Sherdog for 2008.

However, he was unable to advance in the tournament due to a cut and severe swelling under his right eye.

Alvarez's replacement was Joachim Hansen, whom he defeated two months earlier.

Hansen went on to win the tournament and capture the DREAM lightweight title.

Alvarez was scheduled to face UFC and PRIDE veteran Nick Diaz for the EliteXC 160 pound title on November 8, 2008.

However, the fight was canceled when EliteXC's parent ProElite filed for bankruptcy.

On New Year's Eve 2008, Alvarez fought Shinya Aoki at K-1 Dynamite!! 2008, losing by submission in the first round.

He was subsequently signed to an exclusive contract with Bellator Fighting Championships.

Alvarez entered Bellator's lightweight tournament at Bellator's inaugural event on April 3, 2009.

He fought Northern Irishman Greg Loughran, whom he submitted with a guillotine choke.

His next fight at the tournament's semi-finals took place four weeks later at Bellator 5, against Eric Reynolds.

After controlling the bout for two rounds, Alvarez used a rear-naked choke to submit Reynolds in the third.

Alvarez advanced to the lightweight tournament's finals, which took place at Bellator 12 on June 19, 2009.