Eddie Alvarez has had plenty of time to reflect on what went wrong in the Octagon last Saturday.
In defeat to Conor McGregor in the main event of UFC 205, Alvarez became the first UFC lightweight champion in history to fail to defend his title.
‘The Notorious’ steamrolled the defending champ, encountering almost no resistance en route to his second UFC world title in less than a year.
In the wake of the defeat, Alvarez spoke briefly to Megan Olivi and revealed that he was lured out of the strategy that he and head coach Mark Henry had put together.
He’s had three days to contemplate his performance in Madison Square Garden and he’s made his thoughts known in a lengthy statement released on his Instagram in which he commends McGregor for his victory before divulging the emotions he’s been struggling with since being dismantled on the feet.
https://www.instagram.com/p/BM1eoO5g7Qu/?taken-by=ealvarezfight&hl=en
“Congrats to Conor and his camp on an amazing accomplishment, these guys continue to deliver, hats off to you fellas,” Alvarez wrote.
“As for my performance, the only thing I can honestly say was I fucking blew it … I did nothing.
“I trained, I did the complete opposite of what we planned on a daily basis for 10 weeks . To sum up our plan in a sentence it was ‘Go left and mostly wrestle’ instead I circled into his left hand and mostly boxed. Fighting the way I did was a for sure death sentence and the result was fitting.
“I say it all the time, there is really small margin for error at this level and I paid for my mistakes. I managed to make it to the biggest stage and audience in my long career and fucked it all up when I arrived, my heart sincerely hurts and when I dwell on it I fill up with regret and anger.
“If there was a list of what not to do against an opponent of this nature I did them all on Saturday. I am disappointed in myself and this is not a reflection of my coaches, training partners, and the endless hours of training I commit to this sport.
“Every time I get into the cage I negotiate being vulnerable and possibly embarrassed against the opportunity to do something great and grow more. I always choose the latter regardless of the uncomfortability and anxiety it brings to me, I think this choice is the only reason I ever succeeded in the first place.”
“I thought in my head at least making a lot of money would make me happy but I am having a lot of trouble enjoying myself regardless of the check that’s going to be written, I am very uneasy and discontent for the most part.
“I am lucky to have my wife and my child at a time like this to help me laugh and smile and let me know everything’s gonna be all right, they are my saving Grace, without them I am a shell of a man.
“Besides the outcome I thoroughly enjoyed fight week and the lead up, it was a lot of fun. I have never defined myself off one win and I’ll never define myself off one loss, I simply had a bad night. I’ll have the opportunity again to have a good one, and I’ll make the walk to see what I got everytime.
“Thanks for listening.”
You have to feel for Alvarez, who remains one of the world’s greatest lightweight fighters, but who was just outclassed, out-thought and out-gunned on the night by a man truly on top of his game.
Catch up with the latest episode of Football Friday Live here
