Athletes
Joel Alvarez | The Spanish Swiss Army Knife
Now Settled Into The Welterweight Division, Joel Alvarez Says He Has The Tools To Do The Job When He Faces Yaroslav Amosov At UFC 328.
After just one fight at 170 pounds, Joel Alvarez is feeling right at home in his new weight class, and he plans on making a statement in his next appearance. Spain’s Alvarez registered a strong of impressive victories in the lightweight division but opted to make the jump up to 170 pounds to fight at his more natural weight. His welterweight debut came against divisional vet Vicente Luque last October and ended in a unanimous decision victory. Now “El Fenomeno” is ready to return, and says he’ll do so fully adjusted to his new weight class.
“I’m feeling wonderful. It’s amazing,” Alvarez told UFC.com. “At 170, I can feel it, it’s so much better than it was.”
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That first fight with Luque may have offered Alvarez a chance to fight at a more comfortable weight, but he said that his body wasn’t optimized for competition at 170 pounds. Since then, he’s worked in the gym, and with his fitness and nutrition, in order to ensure that he has arrived in Newark, New Jersey at his physical best for his next outing.
“Last year, I fought in October in 2025 in Brazil. At that time, I was still feeling a little heavy, you know, feeling the weight of being a welterweight,” he explained. “But after that, I think that things started getting better. Now, training is going better. My personal life, as well. Everything is looking good.”
Alvarez’s next test at 170 pounds comes on Saturday night at UFC 328, and it’s a significant one. Ukraine’s Yaroslav Amosov captured the welterweight title for the now-defunct Bellator promotion, where his skills helped him build an impressive resumé.
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Amosov made a big impression on his UFC debut with a first-round submission finish of Neil Magny last December. Now Alvarez gets the chance to halt the Ukrainian’s progress and said that he’s looking forward to showing him that the best in the UFC operate at another level.
“It’s a fight that obviously you don't want when you get it right off the bat, because it's a guy that employs his wrestling a lot. That's what he's going to do, and he comes off strong with that,” Alvarez admitted. “But afterwards, you start feeling a little more comfortable during training, and things start making more sense. And then, after that, I’m looking at the top 15, so that's an added bonus to feel. So after that, I'm feeling good and ready to go. Let’s fight!
"He’s a natural top 15 – a tough fighter. But again, I understand he's been a champion in another organization, but this is the UFC. Many have come here and have tried to make some history and replicate the same thing in the UFC. As I like to say to people, this is the ugly division. This is where the big boys are.”
Amosov showed off his submission game with his first-round anaconda choke of Magny, but the ground holds no fears for Alvarez, whose 17 career submissions eclipse Amosov’s 12 tapout wins. Alvarez was keen to stress that while his ability to finish fights on the mat is well documented, he’s more than capable of getting the job done by other means, too.
“The numbers don't lie, so we have that (submission) weapon, as well,” he pointed out. “And again, we know what he’s going to do – he’s going to try to take this fight to the ground. But, as we like to say, we’re like that Swiss Army Knife that has many different weapons, and let’s see how this fight goes on Saturday night.”
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Along with reigning lightweight champion Ilia Topuria, Alvarez is helping lead the charge for Spanish MMA on the world stage, and he said that the momentum is building for a UFC event on Spanish soil. Victory for Alvarez on Saturday night would only help increase that impetus, as the call gets louder for the UFC to hit the road and land in Spain in the not-too-distant future.
“A lot relies on Saturday, and the result on Saturday,” he said. “I think that we're very close out there. It's a key moment for UFC in Spain. We have events approaching that impact Spanish MMA. I think we're very, very close to taking the UFC to Spain.”
With Alvarez settled into a new weight class he believes will bring out his best performances, and the potential for a huge UFC event in his homeland, the future looks bright for “El Fenomeno”. But despite that excitement, Alvarez knows he’s got a job to do at the Prudential Center on Saturday night, and he’s staying focused on the job at hand as he looks to become only the second fighter to defeat Amosov.
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“We just want to put on the plan,” he said. “We’re going to put on our gameplan to try to win every minute of every round, and to come back with the win.
“I didn’t come to America to lose, and we’re going to take this win back to Spain on Saturday.”
UFC 328: Chimaev vs Strickland took place live from Prudential Center in Newark, New Jersey on May 9, 2026. See the final Prelim & Main Card Results, Official Scorecards and Who Won Bonuses - and relive the action on UFC FIGHT PASS!
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