VIDEOS | Watch Eddie Alvarez’ Battles with Shinya Aoki

In just one month’s time, UFC lightweight champ Eddie Alvarez will attempt to defend his title against the organization’s undisputed featherweight champ, Conor McGregor. The two titleholders will share the main event of UFC 205 on November 12, which will mark the UFC’s long-awaited debut in New York City.

In advance of this showdown, Alvarez and McGregor have traded plenty of barbs. This pre-fight trash talk between the two champions has helped them develop a fairly buzz-worthy rivalry.

Alvarez’s new rivalry with the Irish star, of course, is far from his first.

Over the course of his 32-fight career, Alvarez has been part of several memorable rivalries. The most high-profile of these is undoubtedly his rivalry with Michael Chandler, who he went 1-1 with over the course of two fights in the Bellator cage. Yet Alvarez also had an extremely exciting rivalry with Japanese star Shinya Aoki, who currently holds the lightweight title in Singapore’s One Championship.

The first of the pair’s bouts, which can be viewed above, occured back in 2008, when Alvarez was just 15-1. Aoki, meanwhile, entered the bout with an 18-3 record. Though many expected Alvarez to expose the rudimentary striking of his Japanese foe, he ultimately found himself tangled up on the ground with the grappling whiz, where he was forced to tap out to heel hook in the first round.

The pair’s second encounter, which can be seen below, occured four years later, inside the Bellator cage. This time around, Alvarez evened the score with a first-round win of his own, levelling his foe with a right uppercut and finishing him off with a swarm of ground and pound.

How do you think Alvarez will fair in his upcoming battle with McGregor? Do you think there’s a chance the pair will fight again somewhere down the line? Sound off, PENN nation!