Eddie Alvarez is interested to see how Conor McGregor's UFC career closes out.
McGregor (22-7 MMA, 10-5 UFC), 38, returned from a five-year long layoff against Max Holloway (28-9 MMA, 24-9 UFC) at UFC 329 this past July, but tore his ACL and meniscus from the first kick he threw.
He underwent surgery and has every intention of coming back, but former opponent Alvarez says McGregor needs to recognize that his body is starting to give out.
"It just looked like it was over," Alvarez told MMA Junkie of McGregor. "Your body will let you know before your brain does. You're always going to be – even myself in BKFC – my f*cking face kept breaking. I'm like, 'My body is moving good, I'm winning rounds and doing well, but my face keeps breaking.'
"Your body
will let you know, 'Hey man, you're not this 20-year-old kid anymore. You've got to pack it in.' But deep down in your heart, we're fighters and you're always like, 'I can compete and beat this guy.' You probably can, but sh*t starts to go. That injury at 20 is dangerous to have. That injury at mid-30s for Conor is even more dangerous."
"The Notorious" has one fight left on his contract. Alvarez wonders if the UFC will give him a favorable matchup – even though he thinks history says otherwise.
"I think that's the idea (to fight out his contract)," Alvarez said. "But, No. 1, he's UFC's biggest bargaining chip. Do they really just go down without a fight and just give him a fight and say, 'Go.' I've been there with Bellator. I got sued before they let me leave. Are they going to agree upon a matchup because at this point if you say you want to leave the company, you are public enemy No. 1.
"So our whole goal is to get you beat in such a way that you have no value outside this company. Are they going to agree on a matchup? The matchups they're going to give him, he's not going to want. He's not going to want them. Is the UFC going to say, 'Let's get rid of our $100 million man and let him go on his way'? It doesn't work that way in any dealings I've ever had in the last two decades. It never went that way. The minute you say you're leaving the company it's like there's always a little bit of butting heads."
This article originally appeared on MMA Junkie: Eddie Alvarez: Conor McGregor's final UFC fight could get very interesting
