Eddie Alvarez has admitted he is full of "regret and anger" after losing his title to Conor McGregor in New York, but paid tribute to the unique achievement of the Dublin fighter.
McGregor marked the maiden MMA card in New York by becoming the first fighter in the UFC to reign over two divisions simultaneously as he unceremoniously stripped the lightweight title off Eddie Alvarez in an utterly devastating performance.
McGregor dropped Alvarez three times within the first three minutes of the opening round, before finally putting the 32-year-old out of his misery with a punishing four-punch combo three minutes into the second stanza.
In a statement issued on social media, Alvarez was highly complimentary of McGregor, but admitted his approach to McGregor on the night was a "death sentence".
“Congrats to Conor and his camp on an amazing accomplishment, these guys continue to deliver, hats off to you fellas,” he wrote on his Instagram account.
“As for my performance, the only thing I can honestly say was I f***ing blew it ... I did nothing I trained [for], I did the complete opposite of what we planned on a daily basis for 10 weeks .
“To sum up our plan in a sentence it was "Go left and mostly wrestle " instead I circled into his left hand and mostly boxed.
"Fighting the way I did was a for sure death sentence and the result was fitting. I say it all the time, there is really small margin for error at this level and I paid for my mistakes.”
The American added that he is full of “regret and anger” in his performance, which he says was not a reflection on his coaches.
He added that no amount of money could offset the disappointment of defeat.
“I thought in my head at least making a lot of money would make me happy but I am having a lot of trouble enjoying myself regardless of the check [sic] that’s going to be written, I am very uneasy and discontent for the most part,” he wrote.
“I have never defined myself off one win and I'll never define myself off one loss, I simply had a bad night ...Thanx [sic] for listening”
