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UFC 205 main event: Alvarez pushing towards legitimacy as champ vs. McGregor

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UFC 205 Preview: McGregor vs. Alvarez

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In reality, it's just less than 100 miles.

But the distance from the Kensington section of Philadelphia to Madison Square Garden might as well be 100 times that for one Eddie Alvarez.

The 32-year-old UFC lightweight champ will share a spotlight with octagonal supernova Conor McGregor on Saturday night, topping the promotion's history-making advance on midtown Manhattan.

Alvarez got his place in the Big Apple circus, though, thanks to a fighting spirit forged far from the intersection of 7th Avenue and West 33rd Street - specifically on corners, in bars and anywhere else that was convenient in one of Philadelphia's most rugged neighborhoods.