Joel Alvarez

Joel 'El Fenomeno' Alvarez is a 33-year-old Spanish standout who built his 23-4 record on a diet of chokes, submitting 17 of his 23 victims with a BJJ brown belt and elite scrambling instincts — he's never been submitted himself. Once viewed as a pure lightweight grappler, he's added real pop to his hands in recent years, headlined by a flying-knee knockout of Drakkar Klose. He was riding a four-fight tear before a second-round submission loss to former Bellator champion Yaroslav Amosov this past May. He was already in Islam Makhachev's camp as a sparring partner — mimicking Ian Machado Garry's length for Makhachev's own UFC 330 title defense — when the call came to step in on short notice against Njokuani at welterweight.