Recently in Eddie Alvarez Category

Here's a highlight video of Philly's Eddie Alvarez, the reigning Bellator lightweight champ, made by Jerod Phillips, owner of Tap or Sleep, a Hanover-based mma clothing company.

Another win for Philadelphia's Eddie Alvarez, and a hard-fought one, as he had his neck twisted into a pretzel with a standing crucifix.

There's Philadelphia native Eddie Alvarez in the front, to the right of Alistair Overeem.

from bloodyelbow.com:
Bellator lightweight champion and past contender to Shinya Aoki's WAMMA lightweight crown Eddie Alvarez (18-2) will battle Japanese Kyokushin karate practicioner and DEEP lightweight champion Katsunori Kikuno (12-1-2).

Alvarez enters the contest following a three-fight win streak in the Bellator lightweight tournament and DREAM lightweight tournament upset victories over Joachim Hansen and Tatsuya Kawajiri. He eventually lost to Shinya Aoki at Dynamite!! 2008, but he still remains one of the best lightweights in the world outside of the UFC. Kikuno is coming off a quick victory over Andre "Dida" Amade at DREAM 10 after knocking out Koichiro Matsumoto in the DEEP Lightweight tournament to win the Lightweight crown.

Behind #1 BJ Penn and #2 Shinya Aoki, according to:

Released today through bloodyelbow.com.

Eddie's next fight is at DREAM.12 against Katsunori Kikuno:

After recently releasing a teaser video announcing that DREAM.12 will take place in a six-sided cage, the Japanese-based DREAM organization has now announced the first two matchups for the card.

Bellator Fighting Championships lightweight champion Eddie Alvarez (18-2) meets DEEP champ Katsunori Kikuno (12-1-1), while Cage Force lightweight title holder Kuniyoshi Hironaka (15-6) faces Korean Won Sik Park (7-1-1).

Korean Myeon Ho Bae (8-4) was also announced as a participant on the card.

DREAM.12 takes place Oct. 25 at Osaka Castle Hall in Osaka, Japan. The event airs in North America on HDNet.

The new DREAM cage.

Philadelphia's Eddie Alvarez, Paulo Filho, Katsunori Kikuno, Yoshiro Maeda, Andrews Nakahara, Alistair Overeem, Kiyoshi Tamura, Marius Zaromskis and Murilo "Ninja" Rua have all been announced as participants in the Oct. 25 event, the first-ever for DREAM in a cage.

OK, so now we know it's fixed, but it still looks like fun, especially since Andrei Arlovski, Eddie Alvarez and Jake Shields are dishing out the beatings!

No Holds Barred: Eddie Alvarez, Bellator Lightweight Champion

On this edition of No Holds Barred, host Eddie Goldman speaks with one
of the most exciting and versatile fighters in mixed martial arts, and
the new Bellator Fighting Championships lightweight champion, Eddie
Alvarez (http://www.alvarezfight.com/).

We had a chance Wednesday afternoon to conduct a lengthy telephone
interview with Eddie Alvarez about his life, his career, and his
family. We discussed the importance of his family to him, how and why
he got involved with mixed martial arts, and how his upbringing in
Philadelphia has affected his fighting career. We discussed his
victory in the eight-man tournament to capture the Bellator Fighting
Championships lightweight title, winning all his fights with
submissions, over Toby Imada, Eric Reynolds, and Greg Loughran. We
analyzed his style, which effectively combines boxing, wrestling, jiu-
jitsu, and muay Thai. We discussed his fights last year in the Dream
organization in Japan against Joachim Hansen, Tatsuya Kawajiri, and
Shinya Aoki. And we talked about his plans to fight in the future for
the Bellator Fighting Championships after taking a very well-deserved
rest.

You can play or download No Holds Barred at
http://nhbnews.podOmatic.com/entry/2009-07-01T22_05_40-07_00.

You can also download No Holds Barred at http://www.mediafire.com/?dtmxozmgfzz

from sherdog.com:
HOLLYWOOD, Fla. -- It was a rocky start for Eddie Alvarez, but the heavy favorite eventually breezed past Greg Loughran with a first-round guillotine choke in 2:44 at Bellator Fighting Championships 1 inside the Seminole Hard Rock Hotel and Casino.

Unaware of his underdog status, Loughran had no problem standing in front of Alvarez and used his reach advantage to clip the Philadelphia Fight Factory star and drop him to his knees. Alvarez composed himself quickly and dropped levels, shooting in for a double-leg to get Loughran down. Alvarez found the guillotine from there, sealing his slot in the next round of the lightweight tournament.

The tourney's other blue-chip prospect, Jorge Masvidal, also advanced with relative ease. Although a strong wrestler, seasoned opponent Nick Agallar chose to circle and trade with the sharp American Top Team striker for the opening minute. Masvidal floored Agallar early and wasted no time pouncing on him. Agallar made no attempt to get back to his feet or recover guard, leaving referee Troy Waugh no choice but stop the bout at 1:19.

from Sam Caplan at fiveouncesofpain.com:
Highly-ranked lightweight competitor Eddie Alvarez suffered a disappointing first round defeat against Shinya Aoki during FEG's "Dynamite!!" event on New Year's Eve in Japan.

Alvarez was forced to tap at 1:32 of round 1 when he was caught in a heel hook by Aoki. Speculation has run rampant that Alvarez suffered a severe injury as a result of the submission. Some of the speculation was fueled by FEG/DREAM event producer Keiichi Sasahara informing the media after the bout that Alvarez had sustained a an injury that was expected to sideline him for several months.

When contacted by FiveOuncesOfPain.com for comment, Alvarez's manager, Monte Cox, indicated that X-rays conducted in Japan did not reveal a fracture and that Alvarez is expected to undergo additional testing to determine the extent of any injury he may have suffered.

Cox added that as of now, Alvarez is still scheduled to face Naoyuki Kotani (17-8-4) on January 23 during an Extreme Challenge event at the Tropicana Hotel & Casino in Atlantic City, New Jersey. However, the status show's main event could change pending results of additional medical testing on Alvarez. If Alvarez is diagnosed with ligament damage of any kind, it would make it unlikely that he'd be able to compete as scheduled.

Results of the Dynamite!! NYE show, thanks to mmajunkie.com:

MMA RULES RESULTS:
Kiyoshi Tamura def. Kazushi Sakuraba via unanimous decision
Shinya Aoki def. Eddie Alvarez via submission (heel hook) -- Round 1, 1:32 (for WAMMA lightweight title)
Melvin Manhoef def. Mark Hunt via KO (punches) -- Round 1, 0:18
Mirko "Cro Cop" Filipovic def. Hong Man Choi via TKO (leg injury) -- Round 1, 6:32
Hayato "Mach" Sakurai def. Katsuyori Shibata via TKO (punches) -- Round 1, 7:01
Semmy Schilt def. Siala "Mighty Mo" Siliga via submission (trinagle choke) -- Round 1, 5:31
Bob Sapp def. Akihito "Kinniku Mantaro" Tanaka via TKO (punches) -- Round 1, 5:22
Andy Ologun def. Yukio Sakaguchi via TKO (punches) -- Round 1, 3:52
Daisuke Nakamura def. Hideo Tokoro via technical submission (arm bar) -- Round 1, 2:23
Ikuhisa Minowa def. Errol Zimmerman via submission (toe hold) -- Round 1, 1:01
K-1 KICKBOXING RULES RESULTS

Gegard Mousasi def. Musashi via TKO -- Round 1, 2:32
Alistair Overeem def. Bahr Hari via KO -- Round 1, 2:07
Tatsuya Kawajiri def. Kozo Takeda via TKO -- Round 1, 2:37
Hiroya def. Koya Urabe via unanimous decision (overtime: 10-9, 10-9, 10-9)*
Artur Kyshenko def. Yoshihiro Sato via majority decision (30-29, 29-28 and 29-29)
Hiroya def. Shota Shimada via unanimous decision (30-39, 30-29, 30-29)^
Koya Urabe def. Ryuya Kusakabe via TKO (doctor's stoppage) -- Round 3, 2:21^

from my inbox:

WAMMA TO RECOGNIZE WINNER OF NEW YEAR'S EVE MATCH BETWEEN EDDIE ALVAREZ AND SHINYA AOKI AS FIRST-EVER WAMMA LIGHTWEIGHT CHAMPION

After reports had circulated for several weeks that a highly-anticipated lightweight attraction set for New Year's Eve between Eddie Alvarez and Shinya Aoki would decide the World Alliance of Mixed Martial Arts' (WAMMA) first-ever undisputed lightweight champion, WAMMA officials announced Monday that it will recognize the winner of the bout as its first-ever lightweight champion.

The undisputed WAMMA lightweight title bout between Alvarez, WAMMA's number two ranked lightweight, and Aoki, WAMMA's number three ranked lightweight, will take place December 31 in Saitama, Japan at the Saitama Super Arena during FEG's "FieLDS Dynamtie!!"

"New Year's Eve is rich in both history and tradition for combat sports in Japan," stated WAMMA Chief Operating Officer Michael Lynch. "FEG officials have put together an amazing night of fights and WAMMA is looking forward to recognizing the winner of the Aoki vs. Alvarez fight as our first-ever lightweight champion."

Lynch also added that while the Alvarez vs. Aoki matchup will determine the first-ever WAMMA lightweight champion that the belt will be awarded to the winner during a special ceremony to be held at a later date.

Alvarez was a two-time All-American high school wrestler at Northeast Catholic High School in Philadelphia and has gone 15-1 since becoming a professional mixed martial artist. A former BodogFIGHT welterweight champion, Alvarez made the decision to drop to the lightweight division earlier this year.

Starting with a 165 pound catchweight bout in Atlantic City this past January, the 24-year old father of two has gone 4-0 as a lightweight. The undefeated streak includes a 3-0 run during DREAM's lightweight Grand Prix that only ended after Alvarez was unable to receive medical clearance to compete in the finals.

"Dynamite!!" will provide Alvarez a chance at redemption, as he had been scheduled to compete against Aoki in the Grand Prix finals.

Aoki is 18-3 and widely regarded as one of the top submission fighters in MMA with black belts in both Judo and Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu. The 25-year old Japan native has earned his number three WAMMA lightweight ranking with notable victories over current DREAM lightweight champion and WAMMA number five ranked lightweight Joachim Hansen; WAMMA number eight ranked lightweight Gesias "JZ Calvan" Calvancante; former two-time UFC lightweight title challenger Caol Uno; and former Shooto middleweight champion Akira Kikuchi.

The reports of the Alvarez vs. Aoki bout deciding WAMMA's undisputed lightweight champion were not met with universal praise. Several critics have made the valid point that UFC lightweight champion B.J. Penn is currently the organization's number one rated lightweight, a designation he has held for almost a year.

"WAMMA's board of directors supports the WAMMA pollsters in their recognition of B.J. Penn as the number one rated lightweight fighter in the world," Lynch began to explain. "However, Penn has not fought since May 24 and isn't scheduled to compete again until January 31. His Jan. 31 fight will be contested at welterweight against Georges St. Pierre for the UFC's 170 pound crown. If Penn wins, UFC President Dana White has already stated that Penn's next fight will be a welterweight title defense against Thiago Alves. Needless to say, Penn's future as a regular competitor in the lightweight division is uncertain.

"With our number two and three ranked lightweight fighters scheduled to compete on one of the sport's biggest stages, we felt that the fight was worthy of determining WAMMA's first-ever lightweight champion. But we're a fan-forward organization and we are aware of the criticism. If after the St. Pierre fight it becomes clear that Penn's future is at lightweight, WAMMA will approach the UFC with the hope of facilitating a fight between Penn and the WAMMA lightweight champion."

The winner of the Alvarez vs. Aoki matchup will join WAMMA heavyweight champion Fedor Emelianenko as the organization's second-ever undisputed champion. Emelianenko is scheduled to defend his title against former UFC heavyweight champion Andrei Arlovski during Affliction's "Day of Reckoning" event on January 24 in Anaheim, California.

WAMMA's complete top ten rankings at bantamweight, featherweight, lightweight, welterweight, middleweight, light heavyweight, and heavyweight can be accessed through the organization's official website at www.GoWAMMA.com.

Looks like Philadelphia's Eddie Alvarez, and Japanese submission phenom Shinya Aoki at Field's Dynamite!! on New Year's Eve, are evenly matched, as far as betting goes. I say this as nothing more than a group of people who watch the sport and its fighters closely think it's a toss-up.

Here's hoping that Alvarez, of the Philadelphia Fight Factory, comes away with a win.

Here's the latest on the NYE Dynamite!! event, from Nightmare of Battle -
Update: As many as 6 more fights are planned to complete the card, one K-1 fight and 5 MMA fights. They are planned to be announced on either Thursday or Friday.

FieLDS Dynamite!! ~Yuuki no Chikara 2008~
Date: December 31st, 2008
Place: Saitama Super Arena in Saitama, Japan

Middleweight Fight:
Kazushi Sakuraba vs. Kiyoshi Tamura

Lightweight Fights:
Joachim Hansen vs. J.Z.Calvan
Shinya Aoki vs. Eddie Alvarez - that is, Philly's own Eddie Alvarez, Yeah!!

Unknown Fight:
Hideo Tokoro vs. Daisuke Nakamura

Heavyweight Fights:
Mark Hunt vs. Jerome Le Banner
Semmy Schilt vs. Mighty Mo

K-1 Rules Fights:
Tatsuya Kawajiri vs. Takeda Kozo
Gegard Mousasi vs. Musashi
Yoshihiro Sato vs. Artur Kyshenko

K-1 Koshien Final Fight:
HIROYA/Shimada vs. Kusakabe/Urabe

K-1 Koshien Semifinal Fights:
HIROYA vs. Shota Shimada
Ryuya Kusakabe vs. Koya Urabe

Possible Fights:
Masakatsu Funaki vs. Junichi Sawayashiki
Mirko CroCop vs. Badr Hari/Choi Hong Man

Aoki and Alvarez

thanks to mmaconvert.com:
Eddie Alvarez has had one hell of a year in 2008. He entered the DREAM Lightweight Grand Prix as the dark horse pick for many, and three incredible performances later, including two fight of the year candidates, he finds himself in the top five of most media outlets' lightweight rankings.

What Alvarez didn't get to do though was finish what he started. Thanks to a cut he sustained in an epic battle with Tatsuya Kawajiri at DREAM.5, doctors would not allow him to compete later that night for the DREAM LW GP and DREAM Lightweight titles against Shinya Aoki. Aoki ended up losing the match to Joachim Hansen, but it still left Alvarez and fans wondering what might have been.

They won't have to wonder for much longer though. According to a report on Sherdog, Eddie Alvarez has signed to face Aoki on the K-1 Dynamite!! 2008 card on NYE.