Tuesday, March 20, 2007

Eddie Alvarez: Rising Star on the East Coast

*originally published in the Aug '05 issue of Full Contact Fighter*

He’s the welterweight Reality Fighting champ, and has recently been tearing through Japanese and Russians fighters alike at the Mixed Fighting Championship. His takedowns are unstoppable and his fists are powerful and accurate, yet most people know him as the man with the huge cheering section, a section that seems to go ballistic whenever he enters the ring. Fan-favorite Eddie Alvarez – the undefeated 168-pounder from Philadelphia – is a dominant force once the referee says, ‘go!’ And with his superior conditioning and preparation, he’s undeniably the East Coast’s hottest rising mixed martial arts star.

A state wrestling champ-turned fighter, Alvarez has proven to be a formidable scrapper since he debuted in December of 2003. He scored a knockout in just under four minutes then, and has continued to overwhelm in the five bouts subsequent. “I wanted to fight since I was little,” says the amiable Alvarez, when asked how he ended up in the fight game. “It just felt like a calling.”

An product of the Fight Factory – a prominent MMA school in Philly – Alvarez has displayed all the requisite skills that go into making a champ: he can grapple, he can box, and he’s unflappable under fire. How does he train for a fight? “A lot of it depends on my opponent,” says Alvarez. “I’m real strategic about things.” He goes on to describe how he and his trainer, Steve Haigh, will pour over tons of fight tape looking for whatever chinks in a fighter’s armor they can find. “I usually just pick apart my opponent’s weaknesses and exploit them.” Alvarez goes on to explain that, as his wrestling accomplishments have given him a solid base in the grappling department, most of his training nowadays consists of boxing and kickboxing. “My body already does what I tell it to do when it comes to grappling,” he says.

When it comes to cardio, Alvarez seems to have a ton (even though his longest bout was just shy of two rounds). What sort of work does he do to keep his wind? “I love to swim,” he says without hesitation. “I swim a lot before a fight.” He also advocates hill sprints, something he does with his trainer.

Chiseled, and with high degree of functional strength that has enabled him to maintain control in the ring, one might assume Alvarez spends a decent amount of time pushing weight around in the gym. But that couldn’t be further from the truth. “Steve will kill me if I lift weights,” says Alvarez. “He respects it, he just doesn’t believe it should be a big part of the game.” Instead of the Smith machine and the weight rack, Alvarez credits his day job as a stonemason for playing a large part of his strength training. Indeed, it would be hard to argue that hauling around bags of concrete hasn’t helped. “Most of my training is fight training. My weight training is my concrete work.”

In terms of diet, Alvarez is keenly aware of what his body needs to maintain maximum performance. “I eat a lot of greens and a lot of fruit,” he says. “And I’m not just saying that because it sounds good. Greens and fruit give me energy after a long day at work and at the gym.” But he’s by no means a vegetarian. “I eat all kinds of white meat – chicken and stuff – but I kind of stay away from red meat.” He adds: “I can’t eat fatty foods, McDonald’s, or fast food. My body won’t allow it.”

His dominance in the local fight scene has opened the door for more opportunities. In addition to squaring off against international opponents at fairly large Atlantic City-based shows, Alvarez was flown out to Las Vegas for the hit SpikeTV reality series “The Ultimate Fighter”, and while he was never utilized for the filming of the show’s second season, the fact remains that the people in charge at the Ultimate Fighting Championship have taken notice.

So what does the future hold for this East Coast rising star? Currently, Alvarez is focused on one thing: “To beat Daisuke Hanazawa at Mixed Fighting Championship 5 on November 5th,” he says. At MFC 5 in Atlantic City, New Jersey, Alvarez will be facing a more-experienced fighter in what promises to be a thrilling main event. After that, who knows? For this promising welterweight, the sky’s the limit.

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