Former UFC lightweight champion Eddie Alvarez received help from an old friend on Saturday.
On Saturday night, ‘The Underground King’ made his BKFC debut against Chad Mendes. The bout was his first since an April 2021 loss in ONE Championship, and Alvarez gave it his all. In the co-main event, the two former UFC stars stole the show.
In all, there were multiple knockdowns in the electric co-main event at BKFC 41. However, it wound up being a split-decision win for Alvarez, and he earned it in part thanks to an old opponent. That opponent was former UFC featherweight and lightweight champion, Conor McGregor, who was in attendance at the event.
During a recent interview on The MMA Hour with Ariel Helwani, Eddie Alvarez discussed his win over Chad Mendes. There, he revealed that during the fight, ‘The Notorious’ was actually giving him instructions. At one point during the bout, he called for Alvarez to land an uppercut, and he did.
The former UFC lightweight champion admitted that the Irishman was giving instructions to both men. Nonetheless, he was thankful for his old opponent. Both Alvarez and Mendes have a history with McGregor, suffering stoppage losses at UFC 205 and UFC 189, respectively.
Eddie Alvarez discusses Conor McGregor’s BKFC 41 appearance
“Well, Conor yelled it, he was yelling for uppercut,” Eddie Alvarez stated on The MMA Hour. “I was kind of recognizing that Chad was hitching, like he was doing a little hitch [down] before he came under. Conor picked it up, as soon as he yelled uppercut, I got ya, I see ya. I landed it, and was like ‘Good call’, like it was a good moment.”
He continued, “He recognized it, I recognized it, and that was that… I don’t know [if he was rooting for me] because someone said he was yelling for Chad too. So I don’t think he a horse in the race, I think he just wanted to see a good fight and was recognizing a few things going wrong and coaching guys.”
What do you make of these comments? What did you make of Eddie Alvarez’s BKFC debut? Sound off in the comment section below PENN Nation!
