Alvarez claims to have fought over 100 unsanctioned bouts before starting as a professional fighter as there were no amateur fights available. In spite of the fact that many insiders did not consider 170 pounds to be Alvarez's best competitive fighting weight, he continued to fight larger opponents, as he relished testing his mettle against bigger fighters. At Bodog Fight's "Clash of the Nations" pay per view in Russia on April 14, 2007, Alvarez's size disadvantage would be exposed, as he suffered his first career loss when he was TKO'd by UFC veteran
Nick Thompson at 4:32 into round 2. After deciding to leave Bodog, Alvarez signed with EliteXC. He competed in their 160-pound division against Ross Ebanez, winning by TKO. A few weeks prior to the first event, it was announced that the Japanese promotion
DREAM, started by the minds behind
PRIDE FC and
K-1 had signed Alvarez to compete in their 154-pound grand prix. His first fight was against
Andre Amade, who hailed from the
Chute Boxe Academy. Alvarez won via TKO due to strikes late in the first round. Alvarez advanced to the second round of the tournament, where he defeated top-ranked Lightweight fighter
Joachim Hansen on May 11, 2008, by
unanimous decision. In his fight at the
Dream 5: Lightweight Grand Prix 2008 Final Round, Alvarez knocked out top-ranked Lightweight fighter
Tatsuya Kawajiri in the tournament's semi-finals. The fight was awarded Fight of the Year by
Sherdog for 2008. However, he was unable to advance in the tournament due to a cut and severe swelling under his right eye. Alvarez's replacement was Joachim Hansen, whom he defeated two months earlier. Hansen went on to win the tournament and capture the DREAM lightweight title. Alvarez was scheduled to face UFC and PRIDE veteran
Nick Diaz for the EliteXC 160 pound title on November 8, 2008. However, the fight was canceled when EliteXC's parent
ProElite filed for bankruptcy. On New Year's Eve 2008, Alvarez fought
Shinya Aoki at K-1
Dynamite!! 2008, losing by submission in the first round. He was subsequently signed to an exclusive contract with
Bellator Fighting Championships.
Bellator Fighting Championships Alvarez entered
Bellator's lightweight tournament at
Bellator's inaugural event on April 3, 2009. He fought Northern Irishman Greg Loughran, whom he submitted with a
guillotine choke. His next fight at the tournament's semi-finals took place four weeks later at
Bellator 5, against
Eric Reynolds. After controlling the bout for two rounds, Alvarez used a rear-naked choke to submit Reynolds in the third. Alvarez advanced to the lightweight tournament's finals, which took place at
Bellator 12 on June 19, 2009. He fought and defeated
Toby Imada, via a
rear naked choke submission early in the second round, to become Bellator's first ever lightweight champion. Alvarez faced
Josh Neer in a non-title "Super fight" on May 6, 2010, at
Bellator 17, in which he defeated Neer via rear-naked choke at 2:08 of round 2. Alvarez was supposed to fight the Season 2 Lightweight Tournament Winner
Pat Curran in a defense of his title, but his opponent was pulled from the card due to an injury in his right shoulder. He instead faced
Roger Huerta at
Bellator 33 held in his hometown of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. He won the fight via TKO (doctor stoppage) between the 2nd and 3rd rounds. Alvarez then publicly stated that he wanted his next fight to be against the
Strikeforce Lightweight Champion,
Gilbert Melendez. Alvarez defeated
Pat Curran on April 2, 2011, via unanimous decision (49–46, 50–45, 50–45) to retain the
Bellator Lightweight Championship at
Bellator 39. Alvarez faced
Michael Chandler on November 19, 2011, at
Bellator 58 in what was called by many publications as the '2011 Fight of the Year'. He was defeated by Chandler by rear naked choke in the fourth round. Chandler came in very aggressive in the first round, nearly finishing Alvarez. Alvarez faced
Shinya Aoki in a rematch at
Bellator 66. He won the fight via TKO in the first round. Alvarez faced
Patricky Freire at Bellator 76, and defeated Freire in the first round via KO. This was the last fight on Alvarez's contract with Bellator and he passed the organization's contractual period of exclusive negotiation. Alvarez agreed in principle to signing with the UFC, reportedly including a share of pay-per-view revenue in addition to show and win money. Bellator, however, invoked a clause in the original contract to match the UFC's offer and re-sign Alvarez, matching the show and win purse and alleging that the pay-per-view cut in the UFC's offer to be strictly hypothetical. Alvarez and his management subsequently filed two lawsuits against Bellator. On August 13, 2013, it was announced that Alvarez and Bellator had reached an agreement regarding his contract status. Alvarez faced
Michael Chandler on November 2, 2013, at
Bellator 106. He won via split decision in a close fight to become the
Bellator Lightweight Champion for the second time. Much like the first time they met, Alvarez and Chandler engaged in another highly praised, back and forth battle. In the early rounds, Alvarez's jab and punching combinations found their home, damaging the left eye of Chandler, while Chandler was able to land multiple take down attempts and slams, and threatened a rear naked choke. The third round saw Eddie land with some crisp combinations. In the fourth round, Chandler landed a flying knee and some brutal ground and pound which hurt Eddie. By the fifth round, both fighters were busted up and bleeding badly. Chandler caught Alvarez in a neck crank, but Alvarez escaped and nearly finished the fight two times with rear-naked choke attempts. Bellator CEO Bjorn Rebney called the fight the best he'd ever seen. The decision was not without some controversy, with several media outlets scoring the fight for Chandler. Rebney stated in the post fight press conference that the two would meet again in a rubber match, possibly on pay-per-view, once they both have recuperated. A third fight with
Michael Chandler was set up for the main event of
Bellator 120 on May 17, 2014. However, a week before the fight, it was announced that Alvarez had suffered a concussion and was forced to pull out of the fight. In August 2014, new Bellator MMA president
Scott Coker announced that Alvarez had been released from his contract with the promotion.
Ultimate Fighting Championship On August 19, 2014, the UFC announced that they had signed Alvarez to a contract. He made his promotional debut against fan favorite and top contender
Donald Cerrone in the co-main event at
UFC 178 on September 27, 2014. Despite absorbing several flurries of clinch strikes from Alvarez through the first round, Cerrone recovered from a slow start and ended up controlling the rest of the fight with leg kicks that eventually hurt Alvarez. Alvarez lost the fight via a unanimous decision. Alvarez was expected to face
Benson Henderson on January 18, 2015, at
UFC Fight Night 59. However, Alvarez pulled out of the bout and was replaced by
Donald Cerrone. Alvarez faced
Gilbert Melendez on June 13, 2015, at
UFC 188. Alvarez won the fight by split decision. Alvarez faced
Anthony Pettis on January 17, 2016, at
UFC Fight Night 81. Despite being a heavy underdog going into the fight Alvarez was able to pressure and control Pettis. Alvarez won the fight by split decision.
UFC Lightweight Champion In his fourth UFC fight, Alvarez faced
Rafael dos Anjos on July 7, 2016, at
UFC Fight Night 90 for the
UFC Lightweight Championship. Despite being a three-to-one underdog going into the fight, Alvarez found his range early and rocked dos Anjos with a right hand just past the halfway point of the first round. He then swarmed dos Anjos and landed a barrage of unanswered punches before the fight was stopped via TKO. The win also earned Alvarez his first
Performance of the Night bonus award. Alvarez made his first title defense against the then UFC Featherweight Champion
Conor McGregor on November 12, 2016, at
UFC 205 in Madison Square Garden in New York City. It was a historic event for the UFC as it was the first UFC event in New York since the lifting of the state's long-standing ban on MMA. He lost the fight via TKO in the second round, after being outstruck in the first round.
Post-championship In his first fight after losing the Lightweight title, Alvarez faced
Dustin Poirier on May 13, 2017, at
UFC 211. Poirier rocked Alvarez in the second round, but was subsequently dropped when Alvarez landed two illegal knees while Poirier was against the fence. With the Texas commission not operating under the new unified rules, referee Herb Dean declared the fight a No Contest as he did not believe Alvarez knew Poirier was a grounded opponent at the time. In July 2017, it was announced that Alvarez would be a coach on
The Ultimate Fighter 26 against former
WSOF Lightweight Champion Justin Gaethje. A bout with Gaethje took place on December 2, 2017, at
UFC 218. Alvarez won the fight via knockout in the third round. The fight earned both participants the
Fight of the Night bonus award. In the last fight of his UFC contract, Alvarez faced
Dustin Poirier on July 28, 2018, in a rematch in the main event at
UFC on Fox 30. He lost the fight via TKO in the second round.
ONE Championship On October 15, 2018, it was announced that Alvarez signed with
ONE Championship, set to make his promotional debut some time in early 2019 as part of their Lightweight division. On November 7, 2018, it was announced that Alvarez would be one of eight participants in the
ONE Lightweight World Grand Prix. On December 19, 2018, it was announced that Alvarez faced
Timofey Nastyukhin at
ONE Championship: A New Era on March 31, 2019, in promotion's inaugural event in Japan. He lost the fight by TKO in the first round. Alvarez returned at
ONE Championship: Dawn of Heroes on August 2, 2019, against former ONE lightweight champion
Eduard Folayang. He won the fight via first round rear-naked choke after being dropped by a leg kick early in the round. Alvarez was expected to face Saygid Arslaniev in the ONE Lightweight World Grand Prix final, but on September 26, 2019, news surfaced that he had to withdraw from the bout due to an injury. He was replaced by ONE Lightweight Champion Christian Lee. The bout with Arslaniev was to be rebooked for
ONE Infinity 2 on June 26, 2020, but canceled due to the
Impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on sports. Alvarez faced former ONE lightweight title challenger Iuri Lapicus at
ONE on TNT 1 on April 7, 2021. The event took place in Singapore and aired in a
primetime slot in the United States on
TNT. He was disqualified after repeatedly throwing punches to the back of Lapicus's head. The call to disqualify Alvarez was considered controversial by multiple outlets and professional fighters as it appeared he was striking Lapicus's ear before Lapicus started turning his head. Alvarez appealed the final decision and the result was later overturned to a no contest. Three weeks after his last bout, Alvarez faced Ok Rae Yoon at
ONE on TNT 4 on April 28, 2021. He lost a close bout via unanimous decision. On September 21, 2022, it was announced that Alvarez had agreed to be released from his contract with ONE Championship. ==Bare-knuckle boxing career==