Warning: this story contains images of a graphic nature
Eddie Alvarez went down from punches to the head by Timofey Nastyukhin. But it was a vicious left from the Russian knockout artist that split his eyelids in half.
The former UFC lightweight champion posted a gruesome update of the eye injury he suffered in his One Championship debut, a crushing defeat that saw him taken to hospital.
“The punch that hit me instantly blinded me and split both eyelids in half. It felt like my eye exploded from the inside and the pain was instant,” Alvarez wrote on Instagram. “From an outsider watching myself I should have expected the result considering my actions. You have to punch, kick, takedown and pressure to win a fight, I waited. I simply waited too long for the correct timing and opening that never came.”
The “Underground King” was a star capture for Singapore-based MMA company One, and announced his intentions to chase down the lightweight title.
But he bowed out of One’s lightweight grand prix at the first hurdle in the quarter-final stage with a first-round TKO stoppage by the referee.
“Honestly speaking, how I fought my One Championship debut is not a reflection of my training, my coaches, my team, it’s not even a reflection of my beliefs,” Alvarez wrote.
“I am sincerely disappointed and confused in my inability to not pull the trigger and my hesitancy on recent fight nights, it’s been quite confusing to figure out the past year or so.
“Coach Mark always stresses ‘hesitancy is death’ and it’s not something that is even in my character to do. In this particular fight I waited too long for an opening and paid the ultimate price.”
The disappointment was palpable in Alvarez’s camp on Monday morning at Tokyo’s Grand Prince Hotel, where fighters and fans mingled all week.
One Championship: Eddie Alvarez’s career at a crossroads after shock defeat
His pride was as bruised as his face, and the mood downbeat among his large entourage who had travelled form Philadelphia expecting the 35-year-old to lay down a marker in this next chapter in his career.
“Fighting continues to teach me life lessons through my victories and even more through tough defeats,” Alvarez said. “Victory and defeat are by-products of putting it on the line, they have been inescapable throughout my whole life. I hope to be judged on how I adjust and pivot from defeat and behave in victory rather than the result of a small moment in time.”
Nastyukhin picked up a US$50,000 bonus for the performance of the night after sending shock waves through the world of MMA and moving into the semi-finals of the tournament.
“Congrats to Timofey on his victory, he is very deserving of everything that comes with victory and I wish him the best in the continued tournament,” Alvarez wrote.
For the man who made his name in Japan, first travelling to the country 13 years ago to fight at the same Ryogoku Sumo Hall, it was a galling defeat.
But One Championship CEO and founder Chatri Sityodtong praised Alvarez as a “warrior” who will bounce back.
“To my wife, kids, family, coaches, teammates, friends, and to all the fans, thank you always for your continued support.
“Doing this is very lonely and isolated, a simple pat on the back goes a long, long way. Thank you, thank you, thank you. I will make adjustments and come back true to form.”
