‘Philly is going to love it’: Eddie Alvarez will have the support of Conor McGregor at KnuckleMania V

McGregor beat Alvarez by second-round TKO in November 2016 at UFC 205, but is supporting the Kensington native because "there is a camaraderie and a respect among real fighters."

Jeremy Stephens (from left), Conor McGregor, and Eddie Alvarez flex during the Bare Knuckle Fighting Championship weigh-ins on Friday at Xfinity Live! in South Philadelphia. Alvarez and Stephens will face off in the main event Saturday night at the Wells Fargo Center.Read moreElizabeth Robertson / Staff Photographer

by Joseph Santoliquito

Published Jan. 25, 2025, 5:00 a.m. ET

Eddie Alvarez winced for a moment as he stood, tucked away in the shadows of the staging area of Xfinity Live! on Friday. He was there to weigh in for KnuckleMania V in front of fans who arrived in droves amid the television klieg lights illuminating the stage, chanting “Eddie, Eddie, Eddie.”

But “The Underground King” also swayed, back to when he was a kid again, back on the streets of North Philly, back where he first threw punches to prove he was the toughest kid on the block.

He will step into the circle Saturday night in the main event of the Bare Knuckle Fighting Championship at the Wells Fargo Center against former UFC lightweight-featherweight contender Jeremy Stephens. The 41-year-old former UFC lightweight champion will be doing it before the largest collection of family and friends he has ever fought in front of before.

“It won’t be easy,” Alvarez said, “because I will be fighting a lot of emotion and calming myself inside. It is like being back on the streets on North Philly. It will be like I am fighting for them because I am fighting for them. I will need to stay calculated, knowing what I have to do. I will to relax, stay calm, and do what I do best.”

Alvarez is 1-1 in bare knuckle competition. This fight not only marks a homecoming for the Philly fighting great, but an interesting juxtaposition in who will be supporting him — former UFC rival Conor McGregor, who, ironically, has a stake in David Feldman’s BKFC, but beat Alvarez by second-round TKO in November 2016 at UFC 205.

“Hey, listen, Eddie Alvarez is a real fighting man, and I beat him on the night I beat him, but any man who gets in there and fights you earns your respect,” McGregor said. “Real fighters notice that there is a camaraderie and a respect among real fighters. And there is one between me and Eddie.

“I want to fight bare knuckles. I’d love to, I’m dying to, but I have two fights left on a contract, and then I’m going to be free. I can’t wait. Bare knuckles is real. It is pure. It is unfiltered. It takes the courage … of a Bengal tiger to get in there and do what these guys do. I can’t wait.”

This event also means something special for Feldman, who has plunged his life into event. He finally received sanctioning from the Pennsylvania State Athletic Commission in late 2024 after waiting about 10 years.

He pushed the sport when most people and states scoffed at it.

Saturday night ends one journey and begins another. Feldman has been holding bare knuckle fights all over the world with a promotion company, he says, has a $400 million estimated value.

It started with Feldman’s vision and six guys brainstorming in an abandoned warehouse with $100,000 to start.

“This is beyond any dream,” Feldman said. “I dreamed about selling out the Wells Fargo Center. When he got approved in Pennsylvania, I wanted to have something at the Wells Fargo, and my team said I was crazy, it was too big. But we will have the biggest modern sports crowd in Philadelphia. It’s beyond any dream I ever had.

“My message to these guys is to give these fans everything you have. If we have guys punk out and take a knee, it can ruin the whole show. We can’t have that. I want to pay my fighters, and if we have success, we can pay them more.”

The crowd looked like a convention of anyone in the Philadelphia area who has ever proudly been punched in the face.

“They deserve to be entertained, and everyone thought this thing was joke, and I pushed and pushed, and I wanted to make this happen,” Feldman said. “We will get the biggest crowd in the history of Philadelphia combat sports.”

McGregor will be there, too. These days, “The Notorious” seems more content on being Conor McGregor, strutting around and mugging for the cameras. He last fought on July 10, 2021, at UFC 264 losing to Dustin Poirier.

He’s walking around at about 180 pounds and is still in great shape.

“I’m itching to hit somebody,” McGregor said, playing to the cameras and the fans who always seem to gravitate to him. “I like working with bare hands, and I may have been 10 the last time I hit someone with me bare hands. I can’t wait for this. I can’t wait to see what Eddie does, and how this Philly crowd reacts to seeing these brave fighters do there, [expletive] fighting.

“Philly is going to love it.”