Joel Alvarez is very much enjoying his new life as a UFC welterweight fighter.
Alvarez (22-3 MMA, 7-2 UFC), who’s competed all of his UFC career at 155 pounds, makes his welterweight debut this Saturday on the main card of UFC Fight Night 261 (ESPN+) – which takes place at Farmasi Arena in Rio de Janeiro. The Spanish striker stepped in on late notice to replace an injured Santiago Ponzinibbio and take on veteran Vicente Luque.
Alvarez has yet to set foot in the cage, but he’s already feeling the move up in weight class.
“It’s night and day,” Alvarez told Hablemos MMA in Spanish when asked about how he feels this fight week. “I have all the energy in the world to face the trainings, and even tour Rio – even though it’s raining a lot here – but everything is going well. In comparison to lightweight, it was from training to the bed, from the bed to training. There was no other way. It’s uncomparable. I’m very happy. The weight is going well, and I’ll me doing the weight cut much differently this time.”
This is the first time Alvarez has taken a short-notice fight in the UFC, which is another new experience that comes with the move. Standing at 6’3, it was impossible for Alvarez to fight anyone at 155 pounds in a short amount of time.
“It would be unthinkable,” Alvarez said. “The last few fights I did at 155 pounds, I needed to get a head up of almost 10 weeks so I could do a complete camp and be able to get down in weight. It would’ve been impossible.”
All in all, Alvarez is over the moon now fighting at 170 pounds. He thinks this move was inevitable, and it came at the right time.
“I think the moment that needed to come finally came,” Alvarez explained. “I did the most I could at 155 pounds, and I think it’s the perfect change. My body has changed in the last few years. I’ve matured more into a man’s body. I’m going up to 170 pounds and doing my career here. Fighting today at 155 pounds would be impossible. At the end of the day, this is closer to my natural weight, too. This is now a lot more comfortable.”
Weight aside, Alvarez is excited to step into the arena and face Luque (23-11-1 MMA, 16-7 UFC), a fighter he’s looked up to for many years. Alvarez holds Luque in high regard and believes a win over him will open the doors to getting ranked opposition in a stacked welterweight division.
“For me, Vicente is a top 10 guy, so I think if I beat him, I’d be fighting rivals in the top 10, even though officially the numbers don’t way that,” Alvarez said. “I think a good showing against this rival and the UFC would be sending me out against the guys in the top-15 rankings, and that’s what I’m searching for. I’m here to fight against the best in the world because I want to be one of the best in the world. I want to face the best at 170 pounds. Also, the beautiful thing is that many of them are strikers, and it lends itself for fun fights.”
