Eddie Alvarez: ‘I don’t see how Max wins’ against Frankie Edgar

Former UFC lightweight champ Frankie Edgar is currently gearing up for a title fight with reigning UFC featherweight champion Max Holloway, scheduled for UFC 240 on July 27. One of Edgar’s main training partners for this fight will be former Bellator and UFC lightweight champion Eddie Alvarez, who is gearing up for a ONE: Dawn of Heroes showdown with former champ Eduard Folayang. 

Over the years Alvarez and Edgar have spent as training partners, under the tutelage of legendary coach Mark Henry, they have grown very close. They’ve spent countless hours grinding away, side-by-side, and have seen their efforts in the gym pay dividends in the cage.

Knowing full well what Frankie Edgar is capable of, Eddie Alvarez believes we’ll hear “And New” at the culmination of UFC 240.

“Look, the match up between Frank and Max is super interesting,” Alvarez said on the latest episode of BJPenn.com Radio. “Max has been on a roll, he’s grown a lot. But I mean, when you look at Frank’s style and what he’s done, and who he’s done it to, it’s hard to think that Max is going to be able to win this fight. I don’t see how Max wins the fight.

“I mean both are crazy good competitors, but I’m getting ready for one of the biggest fights of my career,” Alvarez continued. “Frankie is getting ready [too], and we’re both in the same camp together. So the energy inside the building is what it is and I don’t know man. I just know the competitor Frank is and what he wants to do and there’s not a — When he’s there, there’s not a single dude in that 45-pound class who can deal with him.”

Frankie Edgar and Eddie Alvarez have helped each other realize mountainous heights in multiple organizations. Alvarez says sharing a training space with a fighter of Edgar’s caliber is a big reason for his own success.

“Before Frank won his UFC world title and I won mine, before any Bellator world title, me and Frank have been f**king going at it in the gyms, years before any of that ever happened. So when he does well, I want to do well. When he does extra rounds, I want to do extra rounds. Like we compete, we inspire each other and we keep each other pushing on. Both of us are over 35 years old and we’re still competing in the gym and at the highest level of this sport. And I think a lot of it has to do with just me looking over at him, him looking over me and saying, ‘Let’s f**king do this.’ It’s fun. It makes it a lot more enjoyable when you have someone like that around.”

Do you think Eddie Alvarez and Frankie Edgar can topple Eduard Folayang and Max Holloway in their upcoming fights?

This article first appeared on BJPENN.COM on 6/24/2019.