Eddie Alvarez (26-4) kommer ta sig an Athony Pettis (18-3) på UFC Fight Night 81. Alvarez fick inte den bästa starten på hans UFC-karriär då han förlorade sin match mot Donald Cerrone (28-7-1) på UFC 187, men kommer senast ifrån en vinst mot Gilbert Melendez (22-5) via delat domslut på UFC 188 och nu berättar han om hur förlusten har påverkat honom.
Alvarez förklarar att hans förlust mot Cerrone i sin UFC-debut och har gjort honom mer hungrig, arg och motiverad. Alvarez berättar också att han inte tror att Pettis har tränat lika hårt som honom.
“I didn’t get off to the greatest start (to my UFC career), but in a way that benefitted me because it kept me good and hungry and ready to go,” berättade Alvarez för MMAjunkie. “There’s nothing like a loss to piss you off and get you back on the horse. That loss was a blessing for me. It was an eye-opener and kept me hungry, pissed off and jaded.
“I’ve always had a confident mindset going into fights, but this one in particular, I just know there wasn’t anything skipped. When I look back at the training camp and look back at what was done, I was pushed further than I thought I could go, and some more. Going into this fight I know (Pettis) hasn’t trained as hard as I did, I know he hasn’t put as many hours in as I did. It’s more of a knowing that a guessing.”
“I’ve been a champion before and I lost my title; I know my mentality going into the next fight,” sa Alvarez. “I think he’s going to bring his Sunday’s best. I don’t think that’ll be good enough. I don’t think that’s going to do. Regardless of what he’s trying to get back or this being his comeback, I feel like none of it is going to go well for him. I’m too prepared, I’m too ready for this fight.”
Alvarez vill hålla matchen stående och förklarar att det är han som kommer att diktera vart matchen kommer utspela sig. Alavarez är säker på att hans tempo och press i matcher kommer att göra att han vinner matchen mot Pettis.
“If I want this fight to stay on the feet, it’ll stay on the feet,” sa Alvarez. “If I want it to go on the ground, it will go on the ground. The fact remains that I’ll dictate where this fight will goes and more than likely I’ll dictate when this fight ends.”
“It’s about finding avenues of victory, but I just always feel like the kind of pace I put on people, whether they look good or feel good the first round, maybe the beginning of the second round – eventually I feel them quitting,” sa Alvarez. “And when that happens I smell blood and I’ll finish. That’s how I feel and how my training is going and I think that’s what you’re going to see next Sunday, is a fight where eventually I’ll start stealing the spirit of my opponent and it will die down. When it does I’ll become energized.”
