Former UFC lightweight champion Eddie Alvarez has been having a tough time inside the octagon as of late. That being said, the former champion’s recent experiences have caused Alvarez to look at his upcoming fight in a light. Now, Alvarez says he is focusing on “not giving a f**k.”
Eddie Alvarez suffered a title ending loss to Conor McGregor at UFC 205 just last year. In an attempt to make it back into the winning column, Alvarez would go on to face Dustin Poirier at UFC 211. However, the fight would be turned into a no contest after a series of illegal knees.
Now Alvarez is set to take on Justin Gaethje at UFC 218 on Dec. 2 inside the Little Caesars Arena in Detroit, Michigan.
Speaking on MMA Tonight, as transcribed by MMA Fighting, Alvarez explained that he has a new mindset going into his upcoming match up.
“In my mind, I’m just looking, for myself, I just don’t feel like I’ve fought my best fight in the UFC yet. I feel like I’m having a moment now where I want to say that I’m not giving a f**k and I feel like the less I give a f**k, the better I fight. I think I cared a bit too much, even in my title fight which I won, I just cared a little bit too much and I didn’t risk enough. I just want to approach the game where I really just don’t give a f**k. I think I fight better that way.
“I think when I entered the UFC [I started caring too much]. There was a big thing, could I compete with the best guys in the world? Could I compete with the guys in the UFC? There was that whole stigma that the guys from the smaller promotions couldn’t hang with the best guys in the UFC so I just let my surroundings and the things I was hearing affect the way I was fighting. It made me focus more on winning than on being me. I was so worried about winning and proving people wrong that I could win the UFC world title, [but] when you get focused too much on winning I don’t feel like you’re able to be your total self. I do better when I care less.
“Any fans tuning in, my preparation purely for this fight, if I’m working anything every day, really hard, I’m working on just not giving a f**k so you might want to tune in for this fight.”
