Eddie Alvarez Confirms ONE Championship Departure, Grateful For Four-Year Stint

American Mixed martial arts (MMA) superstar Eddie Alvarez announced that he had parted ways with ONE Championship and is currently a free agent.

"The Underground King" made the declaration on his Twitter account, noting that the split was amicable and how he hopes for the success of the Singapore-based combat sports organization.

"Confirmed. I am no longer with ONE. We parted ways amicably and I remain on good terms with the ONE team. I want to thank Chatri [Sityodtong] for the opportunity and I look forward to watching their continued success," he wrote.

In October 2018, ONE Championship chairman and CEO Chatri Sityodtong revealed that Alvarez had signed with the promotion after his UFC contract had run out, making him one of the biggest names to ever grace the company.

Despite his stature on the MMA scene, Alvarez had a mixed outing with ONE Championship after he produced a record of 1-2 plus a no contest.

Longtime promotional stalwart Timofey Nastyukhin brutally welcomed Alvarez to the promotion by way of a TKO victory at ONE: A New Era in March 2019 as part of the Lightweight World Grand Prix quarterfinals.

The former UFC and Bellator lightweight titleholder then produced a major bounce-back victory at ONE: Dawn of Heroes a few months later when he defeated a fellow former champion in the form of Team Lakay's Eduard Folayang in his own backyard by rear-naked choke in the very first round.

Alvarez had no fights in 2020 due to ONE Championship being forced to stay on the sidelines due to the global pandemic.

In 2021, his fight against Iuri Lapicus was initially ruled a disqualification loss against him after striking the Moldovan fighter to the back of the head–a controversial decision which was later overturned to a no contest.

21 days after his run-in with Lapicus, Ok Rae Yoon was next up for Alvarez and the MMA veteran looked his age as the South Korean stando repeatedly battered him for a decision victory.

The last time Alvarez appeared at an official ONE Championship event was this past July, serving as one of the esteemed panelists during the official announcement of the company's broadcast partnership with Amazon Prime Video.

At the same press conference, Alvarez was heard reiterating his desire to become the first mixed martial artist to capture world titles under three major organizations while making a commitment to help ONE Championship in its United States expansion.

"I have fought for every organization. I've pretty much become the champion in every organization. That's always been the main goal from the gate," he stated.

"But I think ONE is making strides, and right now, I think it's about getting a footprint here in the United States and this is the start of it right here with Amazon Prime."

The storied MMA fighter's career is seemingly not over after he asked fans "who's next" in the same Twitter post.

There is a big possibility that the Professional Fighters League (PFL) could snatch him up off the free agent market after the Donn Davis and Peter Murray-led promotion went on a signing spree that notable names such as Marlon Moraes, Shane Burgos and Thiago Santos, as well as Muhammad Ali's grandson Biaggio Ali Walsh.

International Business Times and combat sports analyst Nissi Icasiano also alluded to the idea of Alvarez joining PFL.

Alvarez's most recent run of fights may not have produced the results that he wanted, but his desire to keep on fighting is something to be admired.

Signing with PFL could give him that major shot at redemption.