It hasn’t been smooth sailing for Eddie Alvarez since leaving the UFC in search of pastures new. The former Bellator and UFC lightweight champion moved to ONE Championship in 2018. However, in his promotional debut he was crushed by Timofey Nastyukhin in the opening round of the ONE Lightweight Grand Prix.
Alvarez did score a semi-final Grand Prix berth, though, after both Nastyukhin and Lowen Tynanes bowed out due to injury. He won his semi-final, over Eduard Folayang, by first round submission. However, Alvarez would not make it to the final, after an injury forced him out of the tournament, too.