Eddie Alvarez Predicts Early Round Finish Of Donald Cerrone At UFC 178

Making his Octagon debut in the co-main event of this weekend’s (Sat., September 27, 2014) UFC 178 from Las Vegas, Nevada, former Bellator lightweight champion Eddie Alvarez may be in for the biggest fight of his life when he squares off with surging No. 5 contender Donald “Cowboy” Cerrone.

But judging by Alvarez’ attitude about the situation, he isn’t too concerned.  He met up with The Underground to discuss his pivotal bout with Cerrone:

Despite only coming to the UFC now, he’s fought a long list of talent all over the world in various promotions. At this point, he won’t worry that the “Octagon jitters” are going to affect him too much at UFC 178:

“I don’t. I mean, I’m almost thirty fights into this. I believe I have one of the most fights in the lightweight division so I don’t believe it. Unless something crazy happens that I don’t know about. But, I’ve been fighting long enough. I’ve been fighting in other countries, fighting the best guys in their own country. I’ll fight, basically anywhere so the emotions have calmed down over the years and I understand what’s important when I step into that cage.”

Alvarez believes that his experience will be a major factor in knocking off Cerrone, who has notched four straight bonus-earning finishes since November 2013’s UFC 167. Despite “Cowboy’s illustrious run, however, Alvarez doesn’t think that he will provide all that much of a challenge come Saturday.

In fact, Alvarez thinks that Cerrone will go down by finish early on:

“You know, any guy who has so many finishes, you definitely get up for them fights. In the past, whenever I fought dangerous guys who were knocking guys out and everybody’s singing their praises, I’ve always stepped up. I’ve always had my most devastating knockouts or my best fights when I fought guys like that.

So I welcome that sort of fight with open arms, and I know how my body reacts to something like this and it’s always something special, so I’m looking forward to stepping into that cage on Saturday night…I believe I’ll finish Cerrone within two rounds.”

It’s a bold prediction from Alvarez, because Cerrone hasn’t been finished since Anthony Pettis nailed him with a liver kick at UFC on FOX 6 way back in January 2013.

But the former Bellator champ is here to shake things up, after all. A finish over “Cowboy” would certainly insert him into immediate contention for the lightweight title, which will finally be defended when Pettis returns to face Gilbert Melendez in the co-main event of UFC 181 in December.

Alvarez has the mindset of a champion, and he’s coming for one thing: the belt. Will his quest be expedited on the grand stage of UFC 178 this Saturday?