Carlos “Limitless” Alvarez got himself back on the winning track after a thrilling victory over Mirza Aliev in their featherweight MMA bout at ONE Friday Fights 86 on Nov. 8 inside Lumpinee Stadium in Bangkok, Thailand.  

It didn’t come easily though, especially since Alvarez had to survive an early flurry from Aliev after a huge body shot disrupted the Team Lakay rising star’s breathing near the end of the first round.  

The 25-year-old acknowledged that he indeed was hurt during that stretch, but he was happy for all the times he pushed his body to the limits during training camp.  

“At first, he landed a back kick right to my breadbasket. I had difficulty breathing, I started gasping for air,” he said.  

“It’s a good thing that during training sessions, I really focused on my composure. It’s a good thing I really worked hard during training.”  

In between rounds, Team Lakay head coach Mark Sangiao advised him to take the fight to the ground and work on his opponent from there, owing to Alvarez’s wrestling and strength advantages over the Russian.  

Alvarez took his coach's advice to heart and soon found himself on top of his opponent, raining down unanswered punches to take the second-round TKO win.  

That advice goes to show how far the team has come. Especially because it was once known for producing strikers and not ground fighters.  

“My coach’s instruction was to really focus and take the fight onto the ground. We saw in the first round that I had the advantage if I took the fight to the ground, that I could overpower him there,” he said.  

“So I really focused on getting that take down and rain down ground and pound. Thankfully I got the finish.”  

The victory moved Alvarez to 4-1 in the ONE Friday Fights circuit, while also giving him the critical rebound win after he stumbled versus Nachyn Sat.  

With another finish and an impressive display of grit, Alvarez believes he’s gotten himself closer to the coveted US$100,000 contract with ONE Championship.  

“I’m happy to be able to get back on the winning track. I know that I’ll still have to develop plenty of things in my fight, so I’ll just go back to hard training. I know I have to train harder,” he said. 

“I really hope to get that contract. Maybe with another impressive win I hope to get there. Maybe. We’ll see.”