Fighting with bare knuckles almost always leaves the fighters with gruesome injuries. And that’s exactly what happened at BKFC Knucklemania 5 when Eddie Alvarez took on Jeremy Stephens. ‘Lil’ Heathen’ managed to drop ‘The Underground King’ twice in the third round. Despite the massive volume of shots Alvarez threw, Stephens managed to force his opponent’s corner to throw in the towel after the 3rd round. Later, it was revealed that Alvarez was actually forcing through pain from his broken mandible. And that ensured that the world, including Conor McGregor knew how strong and resilient he was.
Alvarez took to Instagram and shared a 3D-rendered model of his skull’s CT scan. The model showed a major mandibular fracture. Even the contours of his nasal cavity seemed deformed. Needless to say, he must have gone through terrible pain while making his stand against Stephens. In the captions, ‘The Underground King’ wrote, “Got hit with a kill shot in the first or second … I did my best to keep a Gameface and ignore it . By the 3rd round the damage was too much . Please understand how bad I wanted this and what I sacrificed in order to Win, it wasn’t my night .”
Well, the third round witnessed ‘Lil’ Heathen’ targeting Alvarez’s face quite often. And that’s the reason why he got knocked down multiple times. But ‘The Silent Assassin’ had already won the hearts of the fight fans. He went on to congratulate the winners of the event, claiming that they were the future. But it was his love for his birthplace that hyped him up even more. He continued, “I’m soo Happy for our City and the future of our Combat Athletes . Whether I win or lose is not as important as Philadelphia/Pennsylvania slowly becoming the most dominate Area in the country for Combat Sports .”
Conor McGregor happened to come across this post and was truly impressed by the fighting spirit of the former UFC lightweight champion. The Irish mixed martial artist and partial owner of the BKFC took to the comments to praise Alvarez. He wrote, “A f—ing WARRIOR! Through and true!” ‘The Notorious’ had previously KOed Alvarez back at UFC 205. And their rivalry was filled with heat. But now, McGregor got to know another side of the BKFC star.
Of course, this wasn’t the first time ‘The Silent Assassin’ had his face broken inside the BKFC arena. If you notice the 3D-rendered model, you’ll see that his orbital cavity is also messed up. And that’s the gift that Mike Perry left him with back at BKFC 56. But let’s keep our focus on McGregor and Alvarez. After all, it took him 8 years to finally bury the hatchet.
Conor McGregor praises Eddie Alvarez despite his TKO loss
Following the action-packed battle between Alvarez and Stephens, ‘Mystic Mac’ had a brief interaction with Dave Schmulenson, popularly known as The Schmo. Therein, the former UFC double champion revealed his views on his former foe. He said, “Eddie is a true warrior, as tough as it comes. A seasoned veteran. An accomplished fighter, and Jeremy whacked him out of there. So that was amazing, very good. Every fight was off the charts, no surprise. Bare Knuckle FC is here to say, 100 percent. Bare Knuckle FC, undeniable.”
And as far as ‘Lil’ Heathens’ was concerned, McGregor declared that his performance was indeed phenomenal. He acknowledged the fact that Stephens succeeded in hyping up the crowd and got his opponent emotional. And that certainly played in his favor. But right after the battle, he had his eyes out to fight the winner. McGregor went up and faced Stephens and challenged him to a fight. He even asked David Feldman to make a date for them.
But the MMA realm has been waiting eagerly for McGregor to make his epic comeback in the Octagon. While a bare-knuckle fight between the Irishman and Stephens would be nothing short of interesting, we still need to see ‘The Notorious’ go up against Michael Chandler first, don’t we? However, the thing that eased the fighting community’s hearts was the praise that he had for Alvarez.
What are your thoughts on Alvarez’s resilience? Was it wise to go through such pain and continue to fight? Let us know what you think in the comments down below.
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