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07th Mar 2017

Eddie Alvarez finally agrees to an opponent for UFC return

Not the fight he wanted, but still a doozy

Ben Kiely

The last time we saw Eddie Alvarez inside the Octagon, he was on the wrong side of history.

After spending an entire career building a legacy and becoming the champion of just about every promotion he’s ever fought for, he was dragged down from the top of the UFC pile by a sensational Conor McGregor.

It took less than two rounds for the Notorious to knock the Underground King out and become a dual champion. Neither man has fought since, but a few names have been thrown Alvarez’s way.

Nate Diaz may have rejected him, Michael Chiesa may not have a big enough name, but it looks like Alvarez will take on another former McGregor foe in his next trip to the Octagon, in Dustin Poirier.

Alvarez admitted on Monday’s MMA Hour that Poirier would be one of the few fighters outside the business end of the 155 lb division that he would be willing to fight next.

Poirier is coming off a Fight of the Night performance against Jim Miller at UFC 208, where he earned a majority decision victory after overcoming serious adversity early in the fight.

ESPN’s Brett Okamoto broke the news on Twitter that the pair have verbally agreed to slug it out, with the UFC 211 event being the likely home for the fight. The Dallas card will be headlined by a heavyweight title fight between Stipe Miocic and Junior dos Santos, while the women’s strawweight championship between Joanna Jedrzejczyk and Jessica Andrade will provide the supporting act.