One might have expected fighter Eddie Alvarez to have the support of the East Coast crowd at UFC 205, but the reception he got at the event's press conference suggests otherwise.
After learning to fight as a kid in the Elephant Graveyard of Kensington, PA, Alvarez rose to the zenith of the sport by taking the toughest route possible.
He became the champion of pretty much every organisation he fought for including Bellator, BodogFIGHT and MFC before getting the call from the UFC. He bounced back after losing his promotional debut to the always dangerous Donald Cerrone by beating former Strikeforce champion Gilbert Melendez and former UFC 155 lb king Anthony Pettis, the latter secured him a title shot against Rafael dos Anjos.
When he knocked out the Brazilian inside one round to win the last belt on his check-list, he completed the Rock-esque narrative. No matter how much dirt got kicked in his face, Alvarez kept biting down on his mouth-piece and continued to swing until all that hard work, grit and determination paid off.
However, when he stepped into Madison Square Garden to promote his first defence against Conor McGregor, he was almost drowned under a sea of boos.
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With Ronda Rousey stepping out of the spotlight following her devastating loss to Holly Holm, McGregor has solidified his position as the sport's biggest superstar. It is therefore unsurprising that he received such a warm welcome in the Garden with the fans hanging off his every word.
Alvarez admitted on Monday's MMA Hour that he wasn't expecting such hostile reaction from the crowd, but he feels their actions speak volumes about the type of person who follows the Notorious. He believes they are fans of the fighter and pay little heed to what else goes on in the sport.
"It was kind of weird. I definitely didn't expect that as far as the boos, but it just sort of reiterated to me what his fanbase is. His fanbase is him. It's all perception and it seems like he's got a lot of WWE fans, guys who don't know much about fighting at all but they just like him."
He went as far to say that he welcomes the boos and he's prepared to face them again on fight night, claiming he wouldn't want those kind of fans anyway.
"You can have them fans, they're not the fans I want anyway. I'll get booed all day long because I don't want a fan that don't know shit about MMA. I'd rather have a fan who knows the sport, who enjoys the sport and can see value."
McGregor wheeled out his patented acerbic-tongue at the presser, taking aim at his opponent with his trademark trash-talk. However, Alvarez feels that McGregor's mind games won't have any impact on the fight itself - he's just incapable of letting it affect him.
"I was being completely honest when I said I enjoyed the press conference. I don't take anything personally. If you know me as a person, even when someone's trying to be legitimately malicious to me and saying things to me, it's really, really hard for me to take things personal from anyone. I just kind of enjoy the show."
"I won't get too emotional about anything. The job will get done violently and quickly. I know my people who'll come out from Philadelphia will go nuts."
Mark the date, people. This one is not to be missed.
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