Eddie
Alvarez is confident that Arman
Tsarukyan can beat Islam
Makhachev after witnessing lightweight champion’s latest title
defense.
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Alvarez was in attendance at the Prudential Center in Newark, New
Jersey, for UFC 302,
where Makhachev put his lightweight strap on the line against
Dustin
Poirier in the headliner. A massive underdog going in, Poirier
exceeded expectations by giving Makhachev a run for his money
before submitting to a brabo choke in the final round. While
Makhachev’s title run may seem similar to that of teammate Khabib
Nurmagomedov, Alvarez believes the reigning champ is much more
susceptible to losing than “Eagle.”
“Khabib, his greatness was in he never fought midway. Khabib fought
way far away or suffocated you in. He never put himself in danger.
So, he was either on top of you suffocating you, you can’t breathe,
or way far away to never get hit. He was beautiful on that, he did
that. And he never got really hurt during his fights,” Alvarez said
on “The MMA Hour”
“Islam’s different because Islam plays in between a lot more, he
takes a lot more risks. He goes for a lot more submissions, he
tries to finish. So, he puts himself in more danger than Khabib
ever did. So, he is susceptible to getting beat more than Khabib
was.”
Tsarukyan was originally offered the title shot against Makhachev
after beating Charles
Oliveira in a title eliminator at UFC 300 in April. However,
Tsarukyan, who lost his short-notice UFC debut against Makhachev,
turned down the rematch due to the quick turnaround. The
Armenian-Russian is currently the No. 1-ranked lightweight
contender and most likely to receive the next title shot. After
Makhachev’s performance at UFC 302, Alvarez is confident that
Tsarukyan dethrones the champ.
Alvarez noted that Dagestani champs are used to thoroughly
dominating their opponents in the wrestling aspect. He further
noted that the only time Makhachev faced adversity in taking his
opponent down, it became a really close fight. Alvarez believes
“Ahalkalakets,” with his elite wrestling background, beats
Makhachev in a potential fight he believes the champ doesn’t
want.
“Arman beats him. I made that assumption right after the fight,”
Alvarez said. “Because look at who Khabib went against, right.
Everybody that Khabib defended against, he had what I call distinct
grappling advantage, like the gap in their grappling advantage is
so high. And he dominated these guys, he never had to take the risk
of getting his shots stopped, not securing a takedown, not being on
top.
“Islam had to deal with that a little bit and look how bad it kind
of went the other way when he couldn’t get the guy to ground and
control him… So, I think Arman, because of his wrestling
background, he’s gonna be able to stop the shots. He may even take
Islam down a little bit. Islam won’t be the hammer the entire
fight. And we need to see how they’re gonna deal with that cause
they’re always the hammer, always the hammer…I don’t know if they
want that fight, I feel they don’t want that fight.”