Alvarez wants winner of Diaz vs. McGregor

Eddie Alvarez crushed Rafael dos Anjos at UFC Fight Night 90 on July 7, 2016 at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada, to win the UFC lightweight championship. The nature of the sport is such that within minutes people often ask who is next.

The obvious answers are Tony Ferguson and Khabib Nurmagomedov, each of whom has ferocious streaks. However, Alvarez spoke recently with Luis Gomez and Dave Smith on SiriusXM Rush’s The Countdown, and outlined another plan.

“Initially I want the winner of Conor-Nate,” said Alvarez, as transcribed by Jed Meshew for MMA Fighting. “I would like a big pay-per-view, big money fight. I’m willing to wait for one of them guys. I almost got in a fight with Nate in Mexico City so maybe we can settle our differences, and if Conor happens to win I welcome that fight as well.

“The number one contender in my weight class has fought once in about the last three years or something. So I’m a little nervous about fighting a guy like that who barely shows up to fight. So Conor and Nate, they’re the guys on my radar, one of them I’d really like to get my hands on.”

“Rankings are subjective anyway. For someone to say, ‘This guy’s number one,’ who claims him to be number one and why is he number one? That’s a question we’ve got to ask ourselves. It’s subjective. So to say, ‘The guy is number one, he should get the title shot,’ it’s not necessarily so.

“Look at the case between Tony Ferguson and Khabib. Tony Ferguson is 8-0, he’s been active for the last God-knows-how-what, he’s been finishing opponents, been on a tear; Khabib’s fought once in three years and he’s number one and he decides he wants a title shot? The last guy he beat was virtually un-ranked – maybe top 100 in the world – and he’s the number one guy in the world. So who says that? Who makes that up? Who appoints him number one? That being said, make the fights that make sense. Make the fights the fans want to see. Who gives a s*** about the rankings?”

And who does Alvarez believe will win the Diaz-McGregor rematch?

“I think Nate wins the same exact way he won the first time,” said the champ.