Eddie Alvarez Calls Out Diaz vs. McGregor II Winner

Add another UFC champion to the growing list of fighters who want the biggest name ‘money’ fight they can get in the Octagon as their main focus.

Top lightweight contender Khabib Nurmagomedov teased a big announcement last week, and many were quick to guess that could only mean a bout with newly crowned champion Eddie Alvarez, who won the belt with a shocking first-round KO of Rafael dos Anjos at UFC Fight Night 90 in early July.

But ‘The Underground King’ isn’t singing the same tune. He has his focus on a whole different pair of opponents, and during a recent conversation with TMZ (via FOX Sports), Alvarez revealed he not surprisingly wants to face the winner of August 20’s pivotal welterweight bout between Nate Diaz and Conor McGregor:

“I’ve got my eye on Nate Diaz-Conor. I would love to the fight the winner of that whole crew. I keep getting asked by all the media — you fight all the best guys in the world and at the end of the day the media asks ‘what about Conor McGregor?’ so I’m sick of being asked about his name. Him or Nate. I have some history with Nate, too. Either one of them.”

It’s a strong argument from Alvarez, as no matter which top-ranked lightweight he sent packing – and there are several – the media would continually ask about him fighting McGregor until he did. And it could also be argued that Nurmagomedov or Tony Ferguson would be far tougher challenges for a smaller payday compared to Irish featherweight champ McGregor.

Alvarez isn’t exactly a name draw himself, but like UFC welterweight champ Tyron Woodley, he knows where the biggest payday – and also perhaps the easiest title defense – lies. In his eyes, he brings the other key piece of the pie, and that’s the belt:

“I’m sure either one of them want the lightweight title,” Alvarez said. “They ain’t going to get it, but they can challenge for it.”