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Finally feeling zen, Eddie Alvarez believes UFC champ Rafael dos Anjos will break under pressure

For Eddie Alvarez, the chance to challenge for the UFC lightweight title represents more than a decade of dedication and sacrifice. The 32-year-old Philadelphia native loves nothing more than the feel of stepping into the cage, and he believes UFC Fight Night 90 is the moment he finally gets to stand at the top of the mountain.

“I’ve thought about being in this situation for a long, long time, and those thoughts provoked a lot of actions that provoked a lot of habits, and now it manifested,” Alvarez told MMAjunkie. “It’s exciting.”

Alvarez, who is currently ranked No. 4 in the latest USA TODAY Sports/MMAjunkie MMA lightweight rankings, is still a relatively new commodity to the UFC, having competed just three times in the octagon. But fans of MMA around the globe are certainly familiar with his accomplishment as a former Bellator lightweight champion and DREAM lightweight grand prix finalist.

It’s been a long road to the top for Alvarez, but he’s excited to finally be right where he believes he belongs.

“I’m deep into this sport,” Alvarez said. “I had my first pro fight when I was 18 years old, before any of this was popular. I was fighting in a basketball gym in front of 70 people. I definitely put my time in. When I had my first fight, I didn’t even get paid. This was never a career option, ever. This was just something I enjoyed.

“I wanted to be competitive. I wanted to see what I was made of, and it turned into this. Now we’re about to fight for the most prestigious title in the world of fighting.”

Alvarez (27-4 MMA, 2-1 UFC) meets current UFC lightweight champion Rafael dos Anjos (25-7 MMA, 14-5 UFC) in the headlining bout of UFC Fight Night 90, which takes place July 7 at Las Vegas’ MGM Grand Garden Arena and stream on UFC Fight Pass.

Alvarez said he’s pressed harder than ever before in preparation for the opportunity he’s long awaited.

“I’m not a big believer in overtraining,” Alvarez said. “I never believed in that. I think a guy who didn’t want to train one day came up with a theory of overtraining. I think the more you do something, the better you get at it, and it’s that simple. The guy who does more, wins.

“I just think if you’re passionate about something, if you love something, you don’t mind doing it a ton, and you don’t count how many hours you’re training. You just do it.”

Alvarez came to the UFC in 2013 as the reigning Bellator lightweight champ and stumbled in his octagon debut, losing a decision to perennial contender Donald Cerrone. Alvarez has since bounced back with a pair of wins over Anthony Pettis and Gilbert Melendez, though both came via split decision.

Alvarez knows he hasn’t been flawless in his UFC run thus far but believes he’s finally ready to show his full capabilities.

“You know, I never regret what I did,” Alvarez said. “I fought, so I can’t regret that I made the walk and I went out there. I don’t think they’re a true representative of my style and my creativity and what I am truly capable of. I think it’s taken me more time than I want to be comfortable inside there and to enjoy being inside the octagon. When I bring myself to savor the enjoyment and the excitement and the gratitude when I’m in the cage, I fight really well. I relax. I’m creative, and I do really well.

“I think more than anything, it’s just putting my mind there in that situation – putting myself in that state of mind where it’s like, ‘Let’s enjoy this. It’s not the end of the world if something bad happens. Let’s just enjoy the whole time inside the cage.’ That’s really been a balancing act between fighting well and still enjoying what I’m doing.”

Alvarez believes he’s found that balance before in his professional career and thinks he can strike it again with dos Anjos.

“That ‘in the zone’ type zen when you’re in the fifth round and you’re terribly exhausted and you’ve got a big, fat smile on your face because it’s (expletive) cool to fight,” Alvarez said.

Champ dos Anjos enters the cage on a five-fight winning streak and stands at an impressive 10-1 in his past 11 fights. With his recent track record to boast, dos Anjos currently stands as more than a 4-1 favorite, according to oddsmakers, but Alvarez sees real opportunity.

“I think a lot of guys in the UFC, they train a lot of offense and not a lot of defense,” Alvarez said. “When you’re fighting a guy who’s super aggressive, and you never really worked on your defense or how to move or position yourself correctly when someone attacks you, then when you get a guy like dos Anjos, he’s really tough to deal with.

“No matter what goes on, one thing is for sure: This guy is going to attack. And if you’re not in ready position or ready to counter or ready to do something about it, you’ll be in big trouble. I think he’s fought a lot of guys who had super great offenses but not very good defense. So being as aggressive as he is, it made early nights for him.”

Alvarez doesn’t see that type of fight playing out when they clash at UFC Fight Night 90. Alvarez believes his defense is up to the test, and he also believes he’ll be the one applying the pressure en route to claiming the UFC lightweight title.

“You never know what a guy’s state of mind is in that particular time in the fight, but when I watch fights of his in the past, we’ve seen him kind of break under pressure, and when he got put in bad situations, we’ve seen him not deal with them very well – not as well as I can, anyway,” Alvarez said. “I’ve been in worse situations and bounced back and wound up winning fights.

“I’ve seen him be put in bad positions a couple times in fights and kind of lose his stuff, so I’m anxious to see where this one will go and see how he deals with being in bad positions because he will be on Thursday, July 7.”

For more on UFC Fight Night 90, check out the UFC Rumors section of the site.

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