FORMER UFC LIGHTWEIGHT champion Eddie Alvarez has opened up about his TKO defeat to Conor McGregor in his role as a coach on the latest episode of The Ultimate Fighter.
The 26th season of TUF features flyweight fighters bidding to become the Ultimate Fighting Championship’s inaugural champion in the female 125lbs division.
One of the contestants on Team Alvarez is Ariel Beck, who appeared to suffer a panic attack as she dealt with the stress of the build-up to her bout with Montana Stewart.
Although Beck ultimately came up short in the fight, Alvarez’s intervention as coach was extremely admirable.
Drawing on his own experiences to mentor Beck, the 33-year-old recalled his second-round TKO defeat to McGregor last November at UFC 205 at Madison Square Garden.
He told Beck: “Recently I had my worst nightmare come true. I got knocked out in front of millions of people and a sold-out crowd at Madison Square Garden. Knocked out!
“I thought about this moment: this was a nightmare you think about for your whole career. Then it happened to me, and guess what happened afterwards, the next day? Nothing. Everybody was still there. My family was there, my kids were there, everybody was still there.”
Alvarez added: “I’ve been through that. I’ve won world championships and I’ve lost them. I’ve dealt with crazy glory and crazy disappointment. But our only other option is to feel nothing at all. And I’ll be damned if that’s going to be the way I exist.”
Eddie Alvarez recalls his experience and how he got over losing to Conor McGregor on the big stage with Ariel Beck. https://t.co/6MSVBEP80R
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Alvarez has already gained plenty of respect from Irish fans this week after it emerged that he went out of his way to visit Tyrone native Aaron Elliot in hospital.
Elliot, who lives in Alvarez’s hometown of Philadelphia, was found unresponsive and without a pulse by police and paramedics after he was struck by a car, which left him with a fractured skull.
