Eddie Alvarez has had an illustrious career in combat sports.
A former UFC Lightweight Champion and two-time Bellator Champion, Philadelphia’s Eddie Alvarez is the only MMA fighter other than Cris Cyborg to hold championship belts in both promotions.
Long before he dethroned Rafael Dos Anjos to seize the UFC title in 2016, Alvarez had already made a name for himself outside of the Octagon by becoming one of Bellator’s greatest fighters ever.
‘The Underground King’ went an impressive 9-1 inside Bellator MMA, with his sole loss coming to rival Michael Chandler, a loss he later avenged.
16 years ago today, a 25-year-old Alvarez touched his first world title.
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Eddie Alvarez dropped and submitted Toby Imada to win Bellator’s four-man lightweight tournament
In 2009, Bellator MMA had its first lightweight tournament, consisting of four fighters: Jorge Masvidal, Eddie Alvarez, Toby Imada and Eric Reynolds.
Alvarez submitted Reynolds to move on to the final while Toby Imada put future BMF Champion Masvidal to sleep with an inverted triangle choke in what was one of the greatest submissions in MMA history.
Imada has 20 submission wins on his professional record.
Thought to be a striker vs. grappler matchup, Alvarez turned up to beat Imada absolutely everywhere at Bellator 12.
In round 2 of their inaugural title fight, Alvarez floored Imada with a clean overhand right.
Alvarez followed up with ground and pound from the full mount position, then expertly grabbed hold of Imada’s back in a scramble and squeezed the submission artist’s neck for a rear-naked choke.
Within seconds, Imada would be forced to tap out and Alvarez was crowned the Bellator Lightweight Champion.
The BKFC is planning their own four-man lightweight tournament
Alvarez, 41, is currently signed to the Bare Knuckle Fighting Championship where he’s fought the likes of Mike Perry, Chad Mendes and Jeremy Stephens.
On Thursday, BKFC President David Feldman confirmed the BKFC will be having their own four-man tournament to crown a new BKFC Lightweight Champion after champ Franco Tenaglia was stripped of the title.
This weekend’s BKFC headliners, Tony Soto and Ben Bonner, will not only fight for a spot in the tournament, but also the interim lightweight championship in the main event of BKFC Texas on Saturday.
It is unknown at this time who else will be a part of the BKFC lightweight tournament.