Eddie Alvarez: ‘The UFC’s trying to use my name to push Justin Gaethje’

Eddie Alvarez and Justin Gaethje at UFC 218.

UFC newcomer Justin Gaethje made an impressive octagon debut when he earned a TKO finish over Michael Johnson earlier this summer. Undefeated in his mixed martial arts career, Gaethje is now set to face a former UFC champion for his second octagon performance. That being said, Eddie Alvarez thinks he is only getting the shot because the UFC wishes to heavily promote the fighter.

Justin Gaethje is set to take on former UFC champion Eddie Alvarez at UFC 218 on Dec. 2. On the UFC Unfiltered podcast, Eddie Alvarez revealed that he believes he knows why he is facing the UFC newcomer.

Here is what Alvarez had to say:

“When UFC wants something, they get it, you know what I mean? If they want you to fight, you’re going to fight they want you to fight. There is not very much of a negotiation going on there, especially with me. I’m pretty easy going, I’m not a guy like, ‘I want this guy, I want that guy.’ I’m not that type of guy. I don’t think UFC wanted that (Poirier) fight, they liked Justin Gaethje, they want to move him and they want to use my name to move him. But I have other intentions, you know what I mean? I get the game, I know how it works and I have been on the other side of it as a young kid coming up, so I see what they want to do, and that’s the fun part of this,”