Eddie Alvarez and Nate Diaz were two of the most high profile names to enter free agency last year. The latter ended up signing with BKFC and is set to make his bare knuckle debut this month, although it definitely won’t be the first time he has fought without gloves on.
Alvarez is known as ‘The Underground King’ because he started out competing in unsanctioned fights and in many ways the former UFC and Bellator lightweight champion is going back to his roots. The 39 year old is coming off an underwhelming stint with ONE Championship but it clearly hasn’t dampened his desire to compete.
Alvarez takes on Chad Mendes at BKFC 41 on April 29th but it is another UFC veteran that he has his sights on. He told MMA Junkie that he wants a bare knuckle bout with Nate Diaz,
“We were in the same weight class, we’ve asked for him a number of times during my MMA career, during my UFC career. It never came to fruition. Timing, title shots, you name it, wrong opponents. Nate Diaz is the only guy I’d want that I would only say, ‘hey, can we sign this guy and bring him over here’?”
Street fighter
Alvarez might be the ‘Underground King’ but Diaz has a reputation for being a bit of a street fighter too. That’s why the 39 year old feels he would be the perfect opponent,
“That’s the only one. I just think he’s the right fighter. I think he’d transition well over to here with that real ‘gangster’ whatever he wants to be style. I think it’ll do good here. and I think that’s the only opponent that I would only want to fight. I don’t really have a desire to fight anyone besides him.”
Having fought out his UFC contract Diaz is a free agent. He has been linked with numerous promotions from ONE Championship to Rizin to the PFL.
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Angry confrontation
According to Alvarez, who recently made headlines by meeting with Donald Trump, the two men had an angry confrontation in Mexico City ahead of UFC 188 in 2015,
“I almost fought Nate in Mexico when I was fighting Gilbert Melendez. I confronted him in Mexico City about grilling me and doing some weird little kid bullshit and we got into it and then UFC broke it all up. We never got to hash that out.”
Melendez and Diaz were teammates so having beaten the former Alvarez thought a fight against the latter might be next. But it never happened back then and he is hoping BKFC might be able to make the matchup now,
“I beat up his teammate so I thought after I beat Melendez that maybe that would warrant a fight against him, but still, he never fought me. So, I think this is the right stage, this is the right opportunity to get this done. He’s a free agent, I’m over here and I’d love to fight someone like him right after this.”
