Eddie Alvarez didn't make it easy on himself en route to his first victory in ONE Championship but managed to sink in a slick rear-naked choke submission moments after being dropped by a vicious leg kick from Edward Folyang.
'The Underground King' has made a career out of doing things the hard way and, true to form, that is exactly how things shaped up in Manila, Philippines, on Friday.
After suffering a sensational defeat to Russia's Timofey Nastyukhin in his debut fight in his new promotional home in March, Alvarez appeared set for the 'L' column once again early when former ONE champion Folyang connected with a scything leg kick early in the first round, collapsing the American fighter in the center of the ring.
Folyang followed up with a barrage of strikes on the ground as the referee leaned forward urging Alvarez to defend himself.
This was the only invitation he needed. Alvarez dug deep into his wrestling arsenal to loop his right hand behind Folyang's left knee to gather the momentum necessary to reverse positions, where he rolled to back mount and seized the initiative all to himself. From there, Alvarez flattened out his opponent, sunk in the choke and coaxed the tap.
All of the above drama played out in just two minutes and 16 seconds. With the victory, Alvarez moves to the ONE Championship lightweight tournament finals where he will face the stern challenge of Dagestani fighter Saygid Guseyn Arslanaliev.
Also on rt.com Ex-UFC champ Alvarez shows off horrific eye injury, congratulates Russian who KO'd him in ONE debutAlvarez's fellow ex-UFC alum Demetrious Johnson also competed on the card, enduring a tricky start against Tatsumitsu Wada to ultimately be awarded a judges' decision after 15 minutes of action. 'Mighty Mouse' will now face Danny Kingad in the flyweight tournament finals.