Alright! Eddie Alvarez vs. Donald "Rye" Cerrone will meet each other on Saturday in the prime of their careers, and I expect more explosions than a Michael Bay film.
Finally, in what should be (about) Eddie Alvarez's 8th year with Zuffa, the Philadelphia born brawler is here. I say 8th year, because Eddie tried out for yet wasn't selected to TUF II -- but shit, how'd you expect him to compete with the likes of Luke Cummo & Sammy Morgan bro? In fact, after Marcus Davis got injured, Eddie was flown out to Vegas and kept in a hotel here he was expected to be used as an alternate, but alas, it wasn't to be. Again, FFS, how could the producers turn down an opportunity to air the charismatic personality of one Jason Von Flue through our SPIKE TV ?! Anyhow, Eddie took the long route around the mountain -- or rather straight fucking through it, and after a decade of winning titles and dusting the worlds best in every organization not named UFC, the kid is at long last here.
In Alvarez you have a fighter who has fought 28 professional times losing only 3 of them -- a sneaky submission loss via kneebar to a clever Shinya Aoki and a loss in one of the best fights of all time against Michael Chandler -- both defeats avenged. His only other loss was seven years ago at WW to a much larger Nick Thompson. Furthermore, Alvarez hasn't been fighting tomato cans, his scalps include Shinya Aoki, Michael Chandler, Pat Curran, Roger Huerta, Josh Neer, Katsunori Kikuno, Tatsuya Kawajiri, and Joachim Hansen amongst others. Also noteworthy, Eddie's only been knocked out once in 28 fights - that to the far larger Thompson. No doubt, Eddie's ability to stay conscious has much to do with his granite chin, but mostly it is a result of his extraordinary head movement and sound overall defensive aptitude. His wrestling roots are apparent in his relatively moderately crouched, closed stance, and he amplifies his ability to minimize clean punches and/or be taken down by utilizing active footwork, combined with lightning quick reactions, tremendous stability, accurate clean counters, and dynamite in both hands adversaries are forced to respect.
A lot of fans this weekend will get there first glimpse of Alvarez and have the opportunity to see that they're still remains great fighters outside the UFC even today *GASP* Fortunately, I, like you (hopefully) have had the opportunity to watch him for years, dating back to his days in Bodog throughout the DREAM tournament, and finally BELLATOR. Anyone who has had the pleasure of watching Eddie fight has gotten to see a fighter with an exceptional skill set and a absolute love for his craft. Indeed, not only is Eddie a supremely gifted mixed martial artist, but the guy is an absolute warrior to the core. For Alvarez, it is just in his DNA as The City of Brotherly Love has long been a fighting city. From the fictional Rocky Balboa to the actual home of some of the most merciless badasses in boxing history including Jersey Joe Walcott, Sonny Liston, Bernard Hopkins, Joe Frazier, Tim Witherspoon and Meldrick Taylor amongst others. Coincidentally, like those HOF pugilists -- Alvarez himself is an exceptional purveyor of the sweet science -- possibly the best in the LW division today.
Eddie Alvarez has skillfully merged his boxing and wrestling yet instead of mirroring your prototypical wrestle boxer, Alvarez has become an absolutely masterful kickboxer. Indeed, Eddies training alongside GLORY kickboxing ace Tyrone Spong at the Blackzilians has obviously paid dividends as evinced by his ferocious fight ending HHK in his penultimate Bellator tilt at the expense of the mediocre Pitbull brother. Right now, Eddie is just firing on all cylinders, and if his tilt with Roger Huerta illustrated anything, it is that Eddie needs a nickname, and we would call him "The Mechanic" for the bodywork he put in -- the paint job came with the package. The gifs below absolutely demonstrate just how dangerous Eddie's striking has become as well as the diversity Cowboy is going to be dealing with.
Stylistically, Alvarez is just a bad matchup for Cowboy, and if octagon jitters do not freeze up the UFC debutante, then I believe he will most likely pick up a win in his first fight in the organization. That is to say, Donald has long been at his best when he could sit back and play the role of a sniper. To achieve this, Cowboy needs a willing dance partner who will let him lead the waltz. Fighters such as Martins, Noons, Siver, and Barboza. When Cowboy's adversary allows him to compete with composure and patience, it is the equivalent of finding a rattlesnake in the desert and poking it with a stick - you are in complete control until all the sudden you're not - just ask Edson Barboza what happens when you blink. (in case he forgot)
Conversely, look at the fighters who have fared well versus Donald - they are all aggressive fighters who stayed in his face and didn't let Cowboy have time to sit back and land those homerun strikes of his. Specifically fighters like Nate Diaz, who stayed right in Donald's face and never let him take a breath -- that broke him. Even less skilled strikers such as Jim Miller were able to have a lot of success early because he didn't give Cowboy time and space to operate. If we look at RDA, who was the last person to best Cowboy, it is easy to see how Alvarez can present some the exact same problems. Chiefly among them being pressure, pressure, pressure! Never did RDA allow Donald to dictate the pace of fight, he stayed right in Cowboys face throwing punches - predominantly the overhand right which was the counter to Donald's long rangy jab.
While Cowboy may have an advantage in the versatility department due to his Muay-Thai and kickboxing background, Alvarez makes up for any shortcoming in overall striking due to his athleticism and speed. Possessing exemplary athletic qualities, Alvarez is going to have a quickness, agility and explosiveness edge to go along with his pernicious punching power. What's more, Donald often eschews basic fundamental defensive technique as he leaves his chin bolt straight in the air like a flagpole in perfect position to get teed off on. Consequently, this is what almost got him knocked out by Melvin Guillard before
Melvin Guillard remembered he was of course
Melvin Guillard . However, Eddie Alvarez is not Jim Miller or Melvin Guillard, and if Cowboy fights like he always does (which I have no reason to doubt he will) then I believe this fight is going to be won with speed and clean punching, which assuredly goes in the favor of the Philadelphia native.
IMO, the pertinent advantages in this contest rest with Alvarez, who no doubt is gunning to make a splash in his Octagon, but to underestimate Cowboy would be crazy. One of the many flaws Eddie has in his game is getting over confident and reckless -- as the gif below illustrates, Eddie will often lead with an uppercut like Prince Naseem Hamed -- which is crazy unless you are a prime Roy Jones Jr. or of course --
Prince Naseem Hamed! The lead uppercut is slow, telegraphed and it exposes your head -- yet Alvarez continues to throw it.
Additionally, in his fight with Kikuno, the Japanese Karate stylist was able to land myriad teeps to the solar plexus and several shin digging roundhouse kicks to Alvarez's liver I
