Eddie Alvarez is no stranger to Conor McGregor or his pre-fight antics. After all, in the build up to their history making title fight at UFC 205, things became quite contentious. But with that in the past, and McGregor now on to badgering Floyd Mayweather Jr. ahead of their boxing match later this summer, Alvarez admits that the circus is much more enjoyable to view from the outside instead of being in the middle of it.

"I was sitting back with some popcorn, really enjoying this tour they went through,” Alvarez told ESPN’s 5ive Rounds podcast recently. “The most comical thing for me, even when I watch movies, is the guy who's so crazy confident about himself, like with the mink jacket. To me, that is so funny. I wish I could be like that. As a fighter, I wish I could do that, so I could make people laugh. But I can't. It’s not my style. I'm glad he does it because we need that. We need guys like that."

Despite Alvarez’s enjoyment of it, the MayMac promotional tour was the subject of a lot of criticism stemming from accusations of racism, misogyny, and homophobia. But criticisms aside, it did bring a massive amount of attention to the upcoming contest and made the fight a must-watch event for many. Among those is Alvarez who says he will be in attendance for the event, and perhaps thinking back to his own devastating loss to McGregor at UFC 205, says that McGregor has a legitimate shot to do the damn thing against the undefeated all-time boxing great.

"Conor has about three or four rounds to get this done. . . Within those four rounds, if you don't think Conor can knock this guy out, you're an idiot or you just don't know fighting because it can very well happen. If he doesn't get it done by then, then it could look very one-sided. The technical boxing of Floyd Mayweather is enough to make it look really one-sided for him. But Conor, there is a very real chance that he can put him away."

As far as his own fighting future is concerned, it was recently announced that Alvarez would be coaching season 26 of The Ultimate Fighter against Justin Gaethje, the former WSOF lightweight champion who made his promotional debut this month with a Fight of the Year performance against Michael Johnson. Alvarez and Gaethje are widely considered to be two of the most exciting fighters in the sport when they fight each other at the end of the season, possible title implications will be on the line. But Alvarez says he’s no longer concerned with the title. The former lightweight champ says that he began his UFC career focused on winning the belt to prove his doubters wrong, but now that he’s done that, he wants to give the fans the fights that they want to see which is exactly why he likes the fight against Gaethje.

“I just wanted to show people I could win the title and I think I’ve done that and I think, more and more as I’m getting older in the sport, I just kind of want to give back more to the fans than be concerned with my own winning, be a little more selfless. So if I can just focus on the fights that are happening and make the fight as spectacular as possible, I think I’ll be happy. That’s a new goal of mine,” Alvarez said.

Everybody could see hints of me in [the Gaethje-Johnson] fight, the way Justin kind of puts it out there. If you get the right guy in front of you, you can make some magic - and he's one of those guys. These are the kind of fights I win every time. So it should be fun to see who is 'America's Most Violent.' It's a battle of that right there."

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MUST-READ STORIES

Buys. UFC 213 and Bellator NYC pay-per-view numbers are in.

Comeback. Chris Weidman promises as return to form at UFC Long Island.

Over. Kelvin Gastelum says Weidman’s “time as champion is over.”

Fault. Cris Cyborg says the UFC is also to blame for lack of featherweight contenders.

Denied. Michael Chiesa’s appeal of Kevin Lee loss was denied by Oklahoma commission.

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VIDEO STEW

Couple of Bellator free fights.

Michael Buffer on MayGregor being good or bad for boxing/MMA.

Floyd being Floyd.

Another former champ giving Conor a chance.

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LISTEN UP

The Naked Truth. Mookie Alexander joins and racism in fight promotion is discussed.

Press Row. Karim Zidan joins to talk Ramzan Kadyrov and the HBO Real Sports piece.

Fight’s Gone By. Jack Slack breaking down Weidman-Gastelum.

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SOCIAL MEDIA BOUILLABAISSE

I can’t even imagine having this happen and turning in a performance like that. Nothing but respect.

Stipe the cornerman.

#recordbreaker

Lot of the top 205 talent in one room.

Cool.

Do your worst.

Got jokes.

Still hustling.

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FIGHT ANNOUNCEMENTS

Martin Bravo (11-0) vs. Humberto Bandenay (13-4); UFC Fight Night: Mexico City, Aug. 5.

Germaine de Randamie (7-3) vs. Marion Reneau (7-3-1); UFC Fight Night: Rotterdam, Sept. 2.

Demetrious Johnson (26-2-1) vs. Ray Borg (11-2); UFC 215, Sept. 9.

Amanda Nunes (14-4) vs. Valentina Shevchenko (14-2); UFC 215, Sept. 9.

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TODAY IN MMA HISTORY

2012: Renan Barao won a unanimous decision over Urijah Faber, claiming the UFC interim bantamweight title in the main event of UFC 149. In the co-main event that evening, Hector Lombard made his promotional debut, losing a split decision to Tim Boetsch.

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FINAL THOUGHTS

And it’s another fight weekend boys and girls. Will Weidman continue his precipitous fall down the middleweight rankings or will Gastelum finally be beaten back down to the welterweight division? Sound off in the comments.

Enjoy the fights and the weekend y’all and Conor bless.

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If you find something you'd like to see in the Morning Report, just hit me up on Twitter @JedKMeshew and let me know about it. Also follow MMAFighting on Instagram and add us on Snapchat at MMA-Fighting because we post dope things and you should enjoy it.