What a month it's been for Eddie Alvarez. 

Just four weeks ago at UFC Fight Night 90, Alvarez got UFC International Fight Week 2016 off to an incredible start when he upset the odds and defeated Rafael dos Anjos for the UFC lightweight title. 

Becoming the champion he believed he would always be

That evening, Alvarez got the job done inside the first round after just three minutes and 49 seconds. It was his first victory inside the distance since his win over Patricky Freire at Bellator 76 in October of 2012. While he might have surprised some people that evening, Alvarez was adamant that he's always ready for any situation. 

"I try to go into fights with zero expectations so I went in there and I trust my responses, trust my reactions and I trusted my coach to come up with the right game plan," Alvarez said. "Everything just kind of fell into place for me. I wanted to go punch-for-punch, kick-for-kick and takedown-for-takedown. 

"I wanted to let him know he wasn't going to gain any momentum, and I was going to be in his face for 25 minutes. Luckily, I landed that big punch, and then got him out there."

While Alvarez may have been the underdog heading into the Octagon against dos Anjos, winning the title wasn't something a shock to him--rather, it's something Alverez always believed would happen.

"For me, I've been fighting 13-plus years now, and it just felt real," Alvarez said. "The UFC lightweight title--I'd been thinking about this moment for such a long time and when it finally happened it just felt like it was supposed to happen. It was a promise I made a lot of people in life, that this time would come and that this time would happen. It was a big 'I told you so' to the fans."