Philly’s Eddie Alvarez Wins UFC Lightweight Title

Eddie Alvarez reacts following his victory against Rafael Dos Anjos during UFC Fight Night at MGM Grand Garden Arena. (Joshua Dahl/USA TODAY Sports)

The underground king is now squarely in the mainstream.

Philadelphia native Eddie Alvarez won the UFC Lightweight Championship last night with a first-round stoppage of Rafael dos Anjos. The fight lasted just 3:49.

Alvarez, who’s called himself the “underground king” and predicted he’d win a UFC title two years ago when he joined the promotion, is a native of Kensington who went to Northeast Catholic High School. He lives in Northeast Philadelphia.

Holy s**t! Eddie Alvarez just beat RDA in the first round. He's your new @ufc lightweight champ. His family: pic.twitter.com/WMqClYecQl

— Matt Mullin (@matt_mullin) July 8, 2016

Alvarez improved his record to 28-4 in his career, and 3-1 in UFC. He previously fought in Bellator MMA, where he also held the lightweight title.

Alvarez’s opponent, the now-former champ dos Anjos, was a 3-1 favorite for the fight. But Alvarez caught him early with a right hand, wobbled him, and basically blistered dos Anjos with punches until the referee stopped the bout.

Afterward, Alvarez called out Conor McGregor, saying he wanted to face him next and that it would be an “easier fight” than any other potential opponents.

“Look, there’s a lot of guys in the UFC who are good at one thing, and they get matched up stylistically well,” Alvarez said. “They make their way to the top without ever going against the true best guys in the division. They sneak their way around them, and they live off perception, not what really is. [McGregor] is one of them. I think he can get found out. If he was ever to fight Rafael Dos Anjos or to fight myself, he’d get found out very quickly.”

Follow @dhm on Twitter.