Eddie Alvarez is an American Mixed Martial Arts fighter who currently fights in the Lightweight division for Japanese MMA promotion DREAM. Right now he is fighting out of the Fight Factory gym. Like fellow DREAM fighter Kid Yamamoto, Alvarez is still relatively unknown to casual MMA fans despite holding notable wins over Joachim Hansen, Tatsuya Kawajiri, and Andre Amade. His recent fights in DREAM look set to put an end to this anonymity though as his impressive performances gather more and more attention.
Although Alvarez is mainly known for his stand-up skills & KO power, he also has excellent wrestling & submission skills (he was a two-time All-American wrestler in high school.) After leaving high school Alvarez began training in MMA & made his pro debut after only 8 months of training. For the early part of his career Alvarez competed in the welterweight division, despite the fact that he was at a size disadvantage against most of his welterweight opponents he still managed to win his first 10 fights. Alvarez suffered the only loss of his career thus far at a Bodog Fight event against Nick “The GOAT” Thompson.Since that loss Eddie has dropped down to the Lightweight division, where he has put together a 5 fight win streak. 3 of those 5 fights took place in the DREAM Lightweight Grand Prix, a tournament in which Alvarez was largely overlooked, with most fans backing either JZ Cavalcante or Shinya Aoki to walk away with the belt.
Alvarez TKO’d Andre "Dida", a dangerous striker from the Chute Boxe Academy, in the 1st round of the tournament. In the second round of the tournament Eddie defeated Norwegian fighter & eventual Lightweight Grand Prix winner, Joachim Hansen via unanimous decision.With JZ eliminated in the 2nd round & after an impressive win over Hansen, people started to mention Alvarez as a potential winner of the Grand Prix. In the 3rd round of the Grand Prix, Alvarez continued his good form as he knocked out Tatsuya Kawajiri in the first round. But despite winning his 3rd round bout, he was unable to advance in the tournament due to a cut and severe swelling under his right eye. With Hansen coming back and going on to win the tournament, a rubber match between Alvarez and “Hellboy” must surely happen in the not too distant future?
