Eddie Alvarez Offers Explanation For UFC 205 Loss To Conor McGregor

Eddie Alvarez likely will get a massive payday after fighting and losing to Conor McGregor at UFC 205 in New York City on Saturday night. But it appears none of that money will console the pain he is feeling from losing the lightweight title belt.

After not speaking to the media following the fight, Alvarez broke his silence on Tuesday with an emotional Instagram post. He congratulated McGregor for his win and offered an explanation for his poor performance saying he “did the complete opposite of what [he] planned on a daily basis for 10 weeks.”

Warning: some of the langague in the caption below is NSFW.

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Congrats to Connor and his camp on an amazing accomplishment , these guys continue to deliver ,hats off to you fellas . As for my performance , the only thing I can honestly say was I fucking blew it … I did nothing I trained , I did the complete opposite of what we planned on a daily basis for 10 weeks . To sum up our plan in a sentence it was "Go left and mostly wrestle " instead I circled into his left hand and mostly boxed . Fighting the way I did was a for sure death sentence and the result was fitting . I say it all the time, there is really small margin for error at this level and I paid for my mistakes . I managed to make it to the biggest stage and audience in my long career and fucked it all up when I arrived , my heart sincerely hurts and when I dwell on it I fill up with regret and anger . If there was a list of what not to do against an Opponent of this nature I did them all on Saturday . I am disappointed in myself and this is not a reflection of my coaches , training Partners , and the endless hours of training I commit to this sport . Every Time I get into the cage I negotiate being vulnerable and possibly embarrassed against the opportunity to do something great and Grow more . I always choose the latter regardless of the uncomfortability and anxiety it brings to me , I think this choice is the only reason I ever succeeded in the first place . I thought in my head at least making a lot of money would make me happy but I am having a lot of trouble enjoying myself regardless of the check thats going to be written , I am very uneasy and discontent for the most part . I am lucky to have my wife and my child at a time like this to help me laugh and smile and let me know everything's gonna be all right , they are my saving Grace , without them I am a shell of a man . Besides the outcome I thoroughly enjoyed fight week and the lead up , it was a lot fun . I have never defined myself off one win and I'll never define myself off one loss ,I simply had a bad night .. I'll have the opportunity again to have a good one ,, and I'll make the Walk to see what I got Everytime . Thanx for listening -EA

A post shared by Eddie Alvarez (@ealvarezfight) on Nov 15, 2016 at 7:20am PST

Alvarez notably said in his post that his plan was to “go left and mostly wrestle” but that he abandoned that strategy.

He’s not wrong. McGregor prevented the fight from going to the ground and knocked down Alvarez twice in the first round with punches before landing the knockout in the second. According to FightMetric, The Notorious landed 32 significant strikes compared to Alvarez’s nine.

Another noteworthy quote from Alvarez’s message was his remark about the pain of losing outweighing the monetary benefits of fighting McGregor.

“I thought in my head at least making a lot of money would make me happy,” McGregor said. “But I am having a lot of trouble enjoying myself regardless of the check that’s going to be written. I am very uneasy and discontent for the most part.”

Alvarez’s short-lived reign at the top of his weight class just goes to show how quickly fortunes can change for MMA fighters these days.

Thumbnail photo via Adam Hunger/USA TODAY Sports Images