Former UFC Lightweight Champion Eddie Alvarez and former WSOF Lightweight Champion Justin Gaethje are set to meet this Saturday Night at UFC 218.
While there is no title on the line, the former UFC champion says the bout will prove who the promotion’s most violent fighter is.
“I only deal with things I can control and right now there’s a whole other title on the line and that’s the ‘UFC most violent man’. And that title is on the line on Dec. 2,” Alvarez said on The MMA Hour.
On this week's Holy Smokes MMA Podcast, Fightful.com's Sean Ross Sapp jokingly suggested the UFC should smash up an old title and apply tape to it to award the winner of the bout, much like WWF's old "Hardcore title."
The two have been coaches on the UFC Ultimate Fighter 26, which is set to conclude with a live finale the night before UFC 218. Alvarez would go as far as to say that his bout with Gaethje is the real main event of UFC 218.
“For me, this is the main event. For me, there is extra leverage going into this fight because I’ve beaten every single champion from almost every organization you can think of. From Shinya Aoki from Strikeforce to (Gilbert) Melendez to Pettis from UFC, then to Bellator, the list goes on and on,” he said. “This guy Justin Gaethje…one of the major organizations from not that long ago was World Series of Fighting. He held the belt, he was the captain of that organization and he flew that flag. For me, it’s another champion under my belt beaten and I’ve made a career out of doing that. I can’t fight for the UFC belt at the minute. I’m realistic and I’m not getting that shot just yet, so this is the next best thing.”
UFC 218 takes place on Saturday, December 2 from the Little Caesars Arena in Detroit, Michigan with Max Holloway and Jose Aldo headlining. Fightful is providing live coverage of the event, with a post-show podcast to follow.
