Eddie Alvarez on his goal for the next year: '3-0 in the UFC and the UFC lightweight champion'

Eddie Alvarez signing with the UFC was a significant move as he was one of the few fighters outside the UFC who comes in immediately as a top tier title contender. With the hold the UFC has on the sport of MMA at this point, most have to climb the ranks within the promotion's structure, but Alvarez made his name fighting for Dream in Japan and Bellator here in the United States.

Alvarez will get thrown into the deep end immediately when he faces Donald Cerrone at UFC 178. And that's just fine with Alvarez, as he told MMA Fighting:

"Look, the only fights I want to be involved with at this time in my career, at this time in my life, are big fights. Dangerous guys, big events, where fans are biting their fingernails and they're asking themselves, ‘oh my god, we have no clue what's going to go on.' Those are the sort of fights that I want to be involved in.

"I don't want to wait around. I'm here for the title. I want to make that clear right from the beginning. Don't get me wrong, the UFC is the premier company, the best company in the world. But I'm not here just to be a measuring stick. I'm here for the world title. That's why I signed and that's what I'm here for. It's nothing personal, but I'm going to get after these guys hard, man. I'm going to be a dangerous guy to fight."

When does he see himself in a position to fight for the title? Alvarez said, "A year from now, I would love to put me at three fights, 3-0 in the UFC and the UFC lightweight champion."