UFC 205: Meet Eddie Alvarez, the man standing between Conor McGregor and history in New York

THE colossal main event bout at UFC 205 is attracting a huge amount of interest, both inside and outside the sport of mixed martial arts.

The main reason for that, of course, is the gregarious Conor McGregor, who is bidding to become the first fighter to hold UFC titles in two weight divisions simultaneously.

For those who are new to the sport, McGregor’s opponent Eddie Alvarez may not be quite so familiar.

But those inside the oft-mentioned ‘MMA bubble’ know Alvarez as potentially the toughest test McGregor has ever encountered.

Here’s a quick ‘Ultimate 8 facts’ you need to know about Alvarez ahead of this weekend’s titanic title fight.

1. Like McGregor, he’s a multiple world champion

Alvarez is the current undisputed UFC lightweight champion of the world, after stunning ex-champ Rafael dos Anjos with a blistering salvo of punches in their title clash at UFC Fight Night in Las Vegas in July.

He’s also a former two-time lightweight world champion with the second-biggest MMA organisation in the US, Bellator MMA.

2. He has more fight finishes than McGregor has wins

Per Haljestam

Alvarez is the more experienced fighter of the pair, with a career record spanning 32 professional fights.

His record currently stands at 28 wins, 4 losses, with 22 of those wins coming inside the distance (15 KOs, 7 submissions).

McGregor, meanwhile, boasts a record of 20-3 with 18 stoppages (17 KOs, 1 submission).

3. His last three fights were wins against world champions

Before Alvarez TKO'd dos Anjos for the UFC title, he had to get past two former world champions.

He did so by beating former Strikeforce lightweight champion Gilbert Melendez, then UFC lightweight champ Anthony ‘Showtime’ Pettis, winning both by split decision.

4. His nickname is ’The Underground King'

Per Haljestam

The nickname comes from the fact that he had fought all over the world for a number of promotions, but never got the chance to fight in the UFC.

But how he’s in the UFC and, after just four fights, he’s the undisputed lightweight champion. Not so much 'The Underground King'. Just ‘The King’.

However, McGregor plans on stealing his crown on Saturday night.

5. He takes a lickin’ but keeps on tickin'

Per Haljestam

Alvarez’s come-forward fighting style has produced a succession of entertaining bouts, but it also means he gets hit. A lot.

But despite getting caught in a number of his fights, Alvarez has only been stopped with strikes once, and that was in a welterweight (170lb) fight back in 2007.

And he’s more than happy to fight fire with fire, as he showed when he took on heavy-handed Patricky ‘Pitbull' Freire in Bellator back in 2012.

6. He’s the fighting pride of Philadelphia

Per Haljestam

And as such, he’s been described as a real-life Rocky.

His all-action fighting style and propensity to become embroiled in slugfests has made him incredibly popular with longtime hardcore MMA fans.

And he has the skills - and the durability - to give McGregor the toughest test of his career on Saturday night.

7. He asked to fight McGregor because he says it’s a ‘gimme fight'

8. He hasn’t looked at all rattled during the build-up

Despite Conor McGregor’s antics, Alvarez appears to have taken everything in his stride, and even when things got heated at the pre-fight press conference, Alvarez laughed it all off.

If McGregor was hoping to get into Alvarez’s head in the same way he did with Jose Aldo, he’s failed.