Fans were not only surprised that Joel Alvarez had another big finish on Saturday night, but also that he made it into the preliminary rounds.
The Spanish lightweight star has been on the scorecards once in his entire professional career, in a losing UFC debut, and has had knockouts or submissions in every fight for that matter. That streak continued at Amalie Arena in Tampa when he brutally kneeled and finished Drakkar Klose.
He is now on a three-fight winning streak after being stopped by Arman Tsarukyan in 2022. The Armenian is now the number one contender at lightweight, and fans are wondering if Alvarez is the best unranked fighter in the promotion.
Joel Alvarez is coming off a stunning knockout victory over Drakkar Klose at UFC Tampa
In a preliminary bout at Saturday night's UFC Tampa event, Joel Alvarez scored his 22nd career stoppage, landing him knockout number five. The Spaniard has been in the UFC since 2019 and has achieved all but one finish, even during his losing efforts.
He landed a huge flying knee on veteran Drakkar Klose about halfway through the first round and seemed to lock in a guillotine almost immediately. However, he continued to throw punches and referee Dan Miragliotta had to intervene and stop the fight.
American Klose has been with the UFC since early 2017 and is not someone known for being as exciting a fighter as Alvarez. He has only two wins in his octagonal career so far, favoring the scorecards.
Fans are outraged over Joel Alvarez's spot on the UFC Tampa card
One issue that outraged fans even more after seeing Alvarez get another win was his placement on the card. He and Michael Johnson both scored exciting knockouts, but were placed on the prelim card much to the chagrin of viewers.
“It should be illegal for Joel Alvarez to compete in the prelims,” one fan wrote after watching the fight. “24 fights, no decisions, 17 submissions, 4 knockouts.” Another commented: “The fact that Joel Alvarez isn't in the lightweight class shows how deep that weight class is.”
And controversial social media star MMA Guru gave his opinion on the Spaniard's performance, writing: “He's like the actually good version of Jalin Turner, Spain has a good fighter except [Ilia] Finally Topuria and this one is really Spanish.”
Joel Alvarez teases move to welterweight and UFC Spain appearance
In the immediate aftermath of Saturday's fight, Alvarez spoke with Michael Bisping in the octagon, where he called out his shot. He noted that he planned to make a move to welterweight unless there was an opportunity for a big lightweight appearance on the rumored UFC Spain card next year.
“I don't know, we haven't talked about an opponent yet,” he told Bisping through an interpreter. “We've talked about 155 pounds, but we've also talked to our team about moving up to 170 pounds unless we get UFC Spain and then stay at lightweight.”
That Spanish showcase would likely be headlined by featherweight champion Topuria, who appears to be gearing up for a rematch with Alexander Volkanovski. He also sees an increase in the pursuit of a second tire
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