Tag Archives: Eddie Alvarez

UFC 211 Betting: Eddie Alvarez vs. Dustin Poirier Odds and Prediction

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Eddie Alvarez fights for the first time since losing his UFC lightweight title to Conor McGregor at UFC 205 last November. The Underground king will face former featherweight contender Dustin Poirier at UFC 211 on May 13th, 2017 at the American Airlines Arena in Dallas, Texas, USA.

Two Promotion Champ

Alvarez is the only fighter to win a world title in two different promotions. Prior to winning the UFC lightweight title against Rafael Dos Anjos in July of 2016, Alvarez was the staple lightweight in Bellator and was a two-time lightweight champion there. Since coming over to the UFC, Alvarez has fought one world class fighter after another: Cowboy Donald Cerrone, Gilbert Melendez, Anthony Pettis, Rafael Dos Anjos and Conor McGregor.

Chasing A Title

Dustin Poirier has been chasing a world title for a long time now. The Diamond is 5-1 since returning to lightweight and losing to McGregor. He just beat Jim Miller last February and is now making a quick return fight against a former champion. Poirier believes that he will be one fight away from that much coveted title shot if he beats Eddie Alvarez at UFC 211.

The Odds

Eddie Alvarez is the slight favorite here at -160 while Dustin Poirier is at +120. Both men are excellent strikers who possess knockout power. Both can also hold their own in grappling and wrestling so this fight could go anywhere.

Both men stand at 5-9 but Dustin Poirier has the longer reach at 72’ . He is also four years Alvarez’s junior and averages 1.54 more strikes per minute landed than the former champion. Poirier’s 49% striking accuracy is also 7% better than Eddie Alvarez’s number.

However, if we go down to the grappling statistics, Eddie Alvarez is more aggressive with his take downs. The Underground King averages 3.58 take downs per 15 minutes as compared to the Diamond’s 1.79. That’s almost a two take down differential and those two take downs would be a huge difference maker in a fight that is expected to be this close.

The Prediction

One can certainly make case for either fighter to win this fight but we’re going with Eddie Alvarez because of his aggressive take downs and because he has fought better competition. Sure, there is a possibility that Dustin Poirier is going to get the knockout here but unless Eddie Alvarez gets clipped and gets knocked out by Poirier, the former Lightweight king  has got this. We’re picking Eddie Alvarez  to win by early KO or unanimous decision.

UFC 205: Conor McGregor vs. Eddie Alvarez Betting Odds and Prediction

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Conor McGregor continues to chase history as he challenges Eddie Alvarez for the UFC Lightweight title at the main event of UFC 205.

Currently the UFC’s 145-pound kingpin, McGregor hopes to become the first fighter in UFC history to hold two world titles at the same time. To do that, he has to take out the tough and durable Philly native in Alvarez on Saturday, November 12th.

Six in A Row

For the sixth fight in a row, McGregor opened as the betting favorite. He’s lost just once during that period and that was to Nate Diaz at UFC 196.

Against Alvarez, the Irishman opened at -125 against the Underground King who was initially pegged at -105. Now that the fight is barely a week away, McGregor’s numbers have improved although not by much. The Irishman is walking the lines at the  -145 to -160 range. Alvarez, meanwhile, has fallen back +120 to +133 although those odds still say this one’s nearly a pick’em fight.

Not Going The Distance

As for the fight, the oddsmakers have installed a line of -260 for the fight not going the distance and a +200 it goes to a decision. Eighteen of McGregor’s 20 wins have been by stoppage and 17 of those by knockout. On the other hand, Alvarez has 15 knockouts and 7 submissions in 28 total wins. Because of this, the oddsmakers have installed a line of -260 for the fight not going the distance and a +200 it goes to a decision.

Length Matters

Conor McGregor’s left hand is legendary. Even Alvarez admits that it’s his main weapon. But McGregor isn’t just a one-armed bandit. He’s sensational on his feet. Notorious has power, timing and accuracy. Eddie Alvarez himself is an excellent boxer and that makes this an exciting striking affair. But McGregor’s five inch reach advantage should be the difference here.

In his seven UFC fights prior to Nate Diaz, he had the reach advantage. He won all of those bouts.

No Wrestling Disadvantage

McGregor’s perceived weakness is his ground game. But if you take a look at his second bout with the bigger Nate Diaz, the Irishman stuffed 6 of 7 takedown attempts. Many people also forget that during his 2013 bout with Max Holloway, Mystic Mac nailed down 4 of 5 takedown attempts. Fans betting on Alvarez point to his wrestling as his advantage. After all, Alvarez beat Gilbert Melendez and Anthony Pettis by dragging the fight to the ground. But if you take a look at the stats, Alvarez has landed only 29% of his total takedowns in 4 UFC bouts. That’s not gonna be good enough.

Take away McGregor’s advantages, Eddie Alvarez is a solid fighter coming off a first round KO over Rafael Dos Anjos. That’s impressive. However, McGregor not only is the better technical striker, he’s also much longer. Once he feels Conor’s power, he will try to bring the fight to the ground. McGregor’s 70% takedown defense will hold and eventually, Alvarez will either get knocked out in the first 8 minutes or have his face re-arranged after 5 rounds as McGregor promised.

One way or another, the bet is Conor McGregor this weekend, and history awaits.

Conor McGregor Could Have Hands Full vs. Eddie Alvarez at UFC 205

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After all was said and done, the UFC turned to its most bankable superstar to headline its highly anticipated New York debut.

Can’t Wait

Dubbed as “Can’t Wait”, the announcement of McGregor vs. Alvarez made UFC 205 perhaps the most highly awaited event of all-time.

Earlier, the UFC had announced two title fights for its Madison Square Garden debut. Welterweight champion Tyron Woodley will defend his belt against top contender Stephen Thompson while womens’ Strawweight queen Joanna Jedrzejczyk will face fellow Karolina Kowalkiewicz in an all-Polish showdown.

But despite those two title fights, UFC 205 seemed lacking luster. On Monday, the UFC added the crown jewel:

Back and Forth

The confirmation of the McGregor-Alvarez Lightweight title bout came as a surprise because the week before, UFC President Dana White had said that he would prefer that McGregor defends his 145-pound title against nemesis Jose Aldo.

Prior to that, there were rumors that the Irishman’s foot injury hadn’t healed yet and that he would not be ready to fight in New York. White also tweeted to a fan that it would be Khabib Nurmagomedov who would be facing Alvarez in the latter’s first title defense. But as fate would have it, UFC 205 would not be the blockbuster that it is expected to be without the UFC’s main man.

Two-Division Champion

When Conor McGregor  began 2016, his goal was to win a second world title. But when Rafael Dos Anjos pulled out of their UFC 196 bout with an injury, McGregor went on to face Nate Diaz at UFC 196. McGregor lost and spent the next couple of months redeeming himself from the loss that derailed his plans to take over the UFC.

The Notorious King got his revenge at UFC 202, beating Diaz by decision. Now that he’s on track once again, the quest to become the third man to win two weight classes in the UFC has continued. A win by McGregor will not only let him join the company of B.J. Penn and Randy Couture, it will make McGregor the first man to hold two title belts concurrently.

Philly’s Pride

Beating Alvarez won’t be a walk in the park, though. The former two-time Bellator Lightweight champion is on a roll. After losing to Donald Cerrone in his UFC debut, he’s racked up three consecutive victories. Those wins weren’t just ordinary ones. They  came at the expense of Gilbert Melendez, Anthony Pettis and Rafael Dos Anjos.

For his part, Alvarez got his wish. After sensationally knocking out Dos Anjos last July 7th, Alvarez demanded a big money fight with the winner of McGregor-Diaz. He got it, and what follows is without a doubt one of the best UFC fight cards we’ve ever witnessed.

UFC 205 will be held on November 12th, 2016 at the fabled Madison Square Garden in New York. Naturally, we can’t wait.