Eddie Alvarez: I'm not afraid of Conor McGregor and his 'Build-a-Bear' suits
Eddie Alvarez is just a month into his reign as UFC lightweight champion, but the fighter out of Philly knows exactly who he wants to take on in his first title defense, and when.
In an interview with CSN Philly, Alvarez said that he has his eyes on the winner of the UFC 202 main event.
“I got my sights set on Madison Square Garden -- they’re having something on the east coast,” Alvarez said. “I believe it’s going to be in November. So looking at something like that. And I know Nate Diaz is fighting Conor McGregor, I would like to try to get the winner of that fight. Hopefully someone comes out on top there and they’ll sign their name on the dotted line.”
This isn’t the first time Alvarez has hinted at wanting a fight with McGregor or Diaz. At a fan Q&A a couple weeks ago, Alvarez said he’d even be open, and maybe even prefer, to fight McGregor at 170 pounds. And he told TMZ last week that he intended on challenging the winner of the highly anticipated rematch.
So he made sure to reiterate in his sitdown with CSNPhilly that he is not scared of the flashy Irishman.
“It’s hard for me to be intimidated by a guy who gets his suits at Build-A-Bear,” Alvarez said. “I’m not intimidated … but anywhere, Ireland, where ever he would want to do it at, I’m more than happy to accommodate him.”
There’s no doubt that a fight against McGregor with the lightweight title up for grabs would be a big money fight for everyone involved. But Alvarez says he’s got a bone to pick with both fighters, so either one of them is fine by him.
“It’s not even about him, more so the winner of him and Nate. He may not even win and my thought is he’s not going to,” Alvarez said. “And Nate, me and him almost got in a fight in Mexico outside of the cage … I was fighting his teammate and he didn’t like that so I confronted him about it. And he didn’t like the way I confronted him. So I’d like to settle that score. Either one of them guys.”
