Eddie Alvarez, Luke Rockhold Talk Move To Bare Knuckle Fighting Championship

“I don’t think fans wanna tune in to see me wrestle. They damn sure don’t tune in to see me do Brazilian jiu-jitsu. So, why not cut the fat and get right to the meat and potatoes.”

That’s former UFC and Bellator champion Eddie Alvarez, 39 — one of many biggest light-weight combined martial artists in historical past — on why he is determined to go away MMA for naked knuckle boxing.

Alvarez not too long ago inked a take care of BKFC … and can combat 37-year-old fellow former UFC star Chad Mendes on April 29.

The males have over 60 professional MMA fights mixed (Eddie has 40), however Alvarez factors out the sports activities are significantly totally different, together with the truth that cuts are very prevalent.

“There’s a lot of little subtleties that I learned when I went to the event myself. Usually you get cut about a minute or two into the fight, typically there’s a cut that goes on and you have to learn and you gotta learn to fight with that,” Eddie says.

And, cuts are a severe issue, in line with Alvarez, who says seeing one’s personal blood can screw with a fighter’s head.

“Some guys could be world champs, undefeated. Never seen their own blood and when they do, you get to see the bitch in them real quick. You need to see your own blood a few times,” Eddie tells us, including, “I’m very familiar with my own blood. I know what it tastes like, smells like, and oftentimes I don’t feel like I’m in a fight until I’m cut.”

The Underground King says there are extra variations between the game.

“There’s even smaller margin for error. And it’s a sprint, not a marathon. You need to be ready when that bell rings. There’s no feeling out process.”

Eddie and Chad aren’t the one fight sports activities stars on the cardboard. Former UFC champ Luke Rockhold can also be boxing former UFC star “Platinum” Mike Perry the identical evening, and we spoke to the 38-year-old fighter.

“It’s different, it’s intriguing, and it’s f****** scary. F****** crazy shit. I’m a f****** crazy man.”

Aside from being an incredible fighter, Rockhold’s additionally a mannequin (he was beforehand the face of a Polo Ralph Lauren advertising marketing campaign), so we requested him he if was involved about his moneymaker getting broken (see Eddie’s feedback above in regards to the cuts).

“Do I seem like I’m worried about my face?” Luke joked, including … “Mike Perry should be worried about his face cause I plan on putting it right on his f****** nose!”

“I wanna make that nose a little more crooked.”