I’m a former UFC champion who lost belt to Conor McGregor — now I’m headlining his biggest bare-knuckle event
Eddie Alvarez could never have imagined Conor McGregor as his boss. In the span of eight years, Alvarez has lost his UFC title to McGregor, left Dana White’s promotion and debuted for ONE Championship. Alvarez lost his UFC lightweight title to McGregor in 2016Getty Now, he’s working with the Irishman once again as a star of Bare Knuckle Fighting Championship (BKFC). The 40-year-old dropped his UFC lightweight title in 2016 to McGregor towards the end of his MMA fame, leaving the promotion two years later. He has since signed with BKFC and makes his third appearance for McGregor’s promotion against Jeremy Stephens at KnuckleMania 5 in January 2025. “People assume since I fought Conor or I took a loss to Conor that there would be some sort of animosity,” Alvarez said on The Ariel Helwani show. “There’s nothing personal in fighting for me, ever. There’s very few guys that that I’ve stood across the ring from that I dislike. “I’ve never actually talked to Conor on a level outside of promoting a fight when we’re talking s*** back and forth. “I don’t even know who he is I couldn’t even tell you the type of person he is or anything like that. I don’t know. “I know other opponents. I know Justin Gaethje kind of well, we hung out quite a bit. There’s other opponents that I interacted with. I just never interacted with Conor. So I don’t know what type of dude he is or what he’s like.” Ironically, all of Alvarez’s opponents in BKFC so far have had some form of run-in with McGregor in the past. He debuted against Chad Mendes, who also lost to McGregor in July 2015. McGregor was also victorious over Chad Mendes in the UFCGetty - Contributor This was the start of ‘The Notorious’’ reign at the UFC’s summit, as he would on to knockout Jose Aldo and claim championship gold for the first time. Alvarez was victorious over Mendes in April last year, but lost to the No.1 ranked BKFC middleweight and unbeaten Mike Perry eight months later. Perry hasn’t fought in the promotion since McGregor supposedly fired him after losing a boxing match to Jake Paul, during which he was dropped several times in a sixth-round KO defeat. Now, ‘The Underground King’ takes on Stephens, who was the infamous recipient of an all-time classic: ‘Who the f*** is that guy’ line from McGregor when he featured on the undercard of the Alvarez fight. “For bare-knuckle, when Conor enters anything it immediately gets attention, it immediately demands attention,” Alvarez added. “He’s been on the sidelines with his eye on bare-knuckle from the very beginning. He was at the Chad [Mendes] fight. I think he was at other fights besides the Chad fight. Alvarez lost against Mike Perry in their bare-knuckle contest last DecemberInstagram @bareknucklefc “But I think he’s had his eye on this thing since it began, and the Chad fight was when he really made the decision that he wanted to be a part of something like this.” McGregor announced in April at BKFC KnuckleMania 4 that he had become a part owner of the bare-knuckle promotion. He has since made appearances in Marbella for the organisation’s events, and most recently rallied the crowd in Newcastle after watching Cumbria’s Agi Faulkner be crowned his new European heavyweight champion. “I love it and I knew this after the Chad Mendes fight,” Alvarez said. “I got out of the ring. I looked around the ring. Conor McGregor was there, Kamaru Usman, Justin Gaethje. “I looked around. I said: ‘We’re entertaining the most entertaining fighters in the world.’ So we became the entertainment point of the fighters, the entertaining fighters, where do they go to seek entertainment? “And it was bare-knuckle… so I see it as the fastest growing sport outside the UFC.” Alvarez returns to fight in front of his hometown crowd at Wells Fargo Centre in Philadelphia on January 25, 2025. Stephens, his opponent, is unbeaten in BKFC having amassed consecutive victories over Jimmie Rivera in December last year and Bobby Taylor nine months later.
Eddie Alvarez could never have imagined Conor McGregor as his boss.
In the span of eight years, Alvarez has lost his UFC title to McGregor, left Dana White’s promotion and debuted for ONE Championship.
Now, he’s working with the Irishman once again as a star of Bare Knuckle Fighting Championship (BKFC).
The 40-year-old dropped his UFC lightweight title in 2016 to McGregor towards the end of his MMA fame, leaving the promotion two years later.
He has since signed with BKFC and makes his third appearance for McGregor’s promotion against Jeremy Stephens at KnuckleMania 5 in January 2025.
“People assume since I fought Conor or I took a loss to Conor that there would be some sort of animosity,” Alvarez said on The Ariel Helwani show.
“There’s nothing personal in fighting for me, ever. There’s very few guys that that I’ve stood across the ring from that I dislike.
“I’ve never actually talked to Conor on a level outside of promoting a fight when we’re talking s*** back and forth.
“I don’t even know who he is I couldn’t even tell you the type of person he is or anything like that. I don’t know.
“I know other opponents. I know Justin Gaethje kind of well, we hung out quite a bit. There’s other opponents that I interacted with. I just never interacted with Conor. So I don’t know what type of dude he is or what he’s like.”
Ironically, all of Alvarez’s opponents in BKFC so far have had some form of run-in with McGregor in the past.
He debuted against Chad Mendes, who also lost to McGregor in July 2015.
This was the start of ‘The Notorious’’ reign at the UFC’s summit, as he would on to knockout Jose Aldo and claim championship gold for the first time.
Alvarez was victorious over Mendes in April last year, but lost to the No.1 ranked BKFC middleweight and unbeaten Mike Perry eight months later.
Perry hasn’t fought in the promotion since McGregor supposedly fired him after losing a boxing match to Jake Paul, during which he was dropped several times in a sixth-round KO defeat.
Now, ‘The Underground King’ takes on Stephens, who was the infamous recipient of an all-time classic: ‘Who the f*** is that guy’ line from McGregor when he featured on the undercard of the Alvarez fight.
“For bare-knuckle, when Conor enters anything it immediately gets attention, it immediately demands attention,” Alvarez added.
“He’s been on the sidelines with his eye on bare-knuckle from the very beginning. He was at the Chad [Mendes] fight. I think he was at other fights besides the Chad fight.
“But I think he’s had his eye on this thing since it began, and the Chad fight was when he really made the decision that he wanted to be a part of something like this.”
McGregor announced in April at BKFC KnuckleMania 4 that he had become a part owner of the bare-knuckle promotion.
He has since made appearances in Marbella for the organisation’s events, and most recently rallied the crowd in Newcastle after watching Cumbria’s Agi Faulkner be crowned his new European heavyweight champion.
“I love it and I knew this after the Chad Mendes fight,” Alvarez said. “I got out of the ring. I looked around the ring. Conor McGregor was there, Kamaru Usman, Justin Gaethje.
“I looked around. I said: ‘We’re entertaining the most entertaining fighters in the world.’ So we became the entertainment point of the fighters, the entertaining fighters, where do they go to seek entertainment?
“And it was bare-knuckle… so I see it as the fastest growing sport outside the UFC.”
Alvarez returns to fight in front of his hometown crowd at Wells Fargo Centre in Philadelphia on January 25, 2025.
Stephens, his opponent, is unbeaten in BKFC having amassed consecutive victories over Jimmie Rivera in December last year and Bobby Taylor nine months later.
