Eddie Alvarez

Edward Alvarez (born January 11, 1984) is an American professional mixed martial artist and bare-knuckle boxer who most recently competed in the Welterweight division of BKFC. He formerly competed in the Lightweight divisions of the UFC and Bellator MMA, where he was the UFC Lightweight Champion, and the inaugural and two-time Bellator Lightweight Champion. He also competed for the Japanese DREAM promotion, where he fought in their inaugural Lightweight Grand Prix, along with fighting in ONE FC, where he competed in their 2019 Lightweight World Grand Prix. Alvarez has also competed in EliteXC.

Alvarez is the first fighter to have won championships in both Bellator MMA and the UFC. He holds notable wins over former world champions Pat Curran, Michael Chandler, Shinya Aoki, Gilbert Melendez, Justin Gaethje, Anthony Pettis, Eduard Folayang, Patricky Freire and Rafael dos Anjos. Fight Matrix ranks him #4 All-Time Lightweight in the world (behind Khabib Nurmagomedov and B.J. Penn).

Edward Alvarez was born on January 11, 1984, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, to Louis and Lillian Alvarez. He is of Puerto Rican and Irish descent. He started boxing at Front Street Gym at the age of eight under his father and Frank Kubach. At the age of 11, Alvarez started wrestling in a youth wrestling program.

He went to Northeast Catholic High School, excelling and becoming a varsity letterman in football, wrestling and track. Despite receiving partial scholarship offers to wrestle in various colleges after graduating in 2001, he decided to pursue a career in mixed martial arts.

Alvarez has a younger brother, Albert, who is a former mixed martial artist.

Alvarez claims to have fought over 100 unsanctioned bouts before starting as a professional fighter as there were no amateur fights available. He paid $250 for a slot in Ring of Combat 5 to start his professional mixed martial arts career in 2003.

Alvarez won the MFC Welterweight Championship in his seventh professional fight in June 2006, when he defeated Derrick Noble via KO at 1:01 of the first round. The MFC Welterweight Championship would later be re-branded the BodogFIGHT Welterweight Championship.

In spite of the fact that many insiders did not consider 170 pounds to be Alvarez's best competitive fighting weight, he continued to fight larger opponents, as he relished testing his mettle against bigger fighters. At Bodog Fight's "Clash of the Nations" pay per view in Russia on April 14, 2007, Alvarez's size disadvantage would be exposed, as he suffered his first career loss when he was TKO'd by UFC veteran Nick Thompson at 4:32 into round 2. After deciding to leave Bodog, Alvarez signed with EliteXC. He competed in their 160-pound division against Ross Ebanez, winning by TKO.