Conor McGregor's former opponent Eddie Alvarez has recognised the Irishman's ringside instructions helped him win his bare-knuckle boxing fight.
Two of McGregor's former UFC opponents, in Alvarez and Chad Mendes, fought in the co-main event of BKFC 41 last Saturday night. 'Notorious' praised both men for putting on a "barn buster" with Alvarez even responding to a shot suggestion McGregor shouted during the fight. The Irishman could be heard yelling for Alvarez to land an uppercut, with the fighter going on to land the exact shot just moments later. Alvarez then pointed in the direction of McGregor to seemingly thank him for the call.
“Well, Conor yelled it. He was yelling for uppercut, and I was kind of recognising that Chad was hitching, he was doing a little hitch before he came under and Conor picked it up and then he was mentioning it as soon as he was against the [ropes]. As soon as he yelled uppercut, I was like, ‘I see it,’ and then I landed it and I was like, ‘Good call.’ It was a good moment. He recognised it, I recognised it and I think that was that," Alvarez said on The MMA Hour.
Alvarez had joked in his post-fight press conference that McGregor was playing both sides as he also suggested punches for Mendes. “Someone said he was yelling s*** for Chad too. I don’t think he had a horse in the race, I think he just wanted to see a good fight and he was just recognising some things that were going wrong and he was trying to coach guys," Alvarez added.
McGregor won the UFC lightweight title by knocking out Alvarez in their 2016 title fight. Alvarez insisted he holds no animosity towards 'Notorious' and is happy to see the monumental heights the Irishman has reached in MMA. McGregor has also been offered a bare-knuckle boxing fight against his former opponent if he is to follow through with his intentions of competing in the ring.
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“I’d f****ng love it. Bring it. Every day, all day. I think Conor’s boxing is phenomenal. He’s really rangy. He’s shorter. He’s not tall, but his knuckles drag. He has really long reach for his size. I think he’d do well. I think he’d do really well. His team behind him, Owen Roddy and his boxing crew they’re intelligent. I think they’d do really well," he added.
“The clinch is a little different. It’s f****** junkyard dog s***, so the cleaner boxer doesn’t always win in this sport. I’ve seen championship boxers get out-dogged and beat up in the clinch, and get knocked out or knocked down, so it’s not always the cleaner, better boxer that prevails, but I think he’d do just fine.”
