History has taught Eddie Alvarez to bet on himself -- so that's exactly what he'll do on Saturday, when he faces Dustin Poirier in the main event of UFC Fight Night in Calgary.
Alvarez, 34, is on the last fight of his UFC contract. In May, UFC president Dana White met Alvarez in his hometown of Philadelphia to discuss an extension. The two sides couldn't reach an agreement, however, and Alvarez will fight out his exclusive deal this weekend.
That raises the stakes of this lightweight fight for Alvarez (29-5), as it's always best to head into a contract negotiation on a win. But Alvarez says, if anything, he's excited by the thought of free agency. It's been good to him in the past -- notably in 2013, when the UFC and Bellator competed for the right to sign him.
"Dana and I spoke, and he gets where I'm coming from, and I get where he's coming from," Alvarez said. "It's a matter of what the market is willing to give and what I feel I'm worth. Right now, there's no agreement, but I'm positive that eventually we'll get somewhere.
"I'm OK with where things are at. Free agency has always been a very fun and exciting time in my life. There's not very many times it happens. It's like the Olympics, it only happens every three or four years. I'm looking forward to being there if it comes to that."
In the event Alvarez does defeat Poirier and re-signs with the UFC, his next contract could see him through several massive fights.
Alvarez has repeatedly said he believes he is the worst stylistic matchup for lightweight champion Khabib Nurmagomedov (26-0), who currently does not have a scheduled fight. He also has something of a rivalry with Nate Diaz, dating back years.
"I like to save the business talk for the business room," said Alvarez, when asked if he would speak about his contract immediately after the fight. "The postfight talk is always setting up the next one. 'Who's on deck?' I think I'll want to talk about that more than anything.
"My No. 1 pick right now is the undefeated Russian. He has the title, so we're hunting him down. If he's not available, I think the fans want to see me versus Nate. We're going after the biggest, largest fish in the ocean. If the Russian is available, we're full steam ahead towards that fight."
Saturday is obviously a critically important fight in Alvarez's career, and that's before even mentioning the history he has with Poirier.
The two fought at UFC 211 in May 2017. The entertaining fight ended in controversy when Alvarez landed an illegal knee in the second round, which resulted in a no-contest.
It's a compelling rematch, which has perhaps been slightly overshadowed by Alvarez's contractual status. A former champion in multiple promotions, Alvarez says he always expects the focus to be on him.
"It's never about the other guy," Alvarez said. "This is my show. It's always about me. If the opponent is good, it's better for the crowd and myself, but let's not get things messed up. This whole show is about me, and it's always been about me. Dustin is the guy up next, and he's definitely one of the top opponents right now. I'm looking for him to fight me. Hopefully he's angry enough about the last one that we put on a hell of a fight."