Alvarez takes dogfight with Gaethje by 3rd-round TKO

Justin Gaethje's "0" had to go.

In a lightweight bout that lived up to its billing, Eddie Alvarez boxed Gaethje up for two rounds, then finished him with a knee in the third to hand the former WSOF champ his first career loss at UFC 218 in Detroit on Saturday.

Alvarez survived a bevy of leg kicks and rode some stellar body work to finally get back in the win column after losing the divisional title to Conor McGregor and seeing his fight with Dustin Poirier end in a no-contest at UFC 205 and 211, respectively.

The 33-year-old delivered on his promise of violence, deftly mixing up his punches to Gaethje's dome and midsection while Gaethje chopped away with thunderous leg kicks and scored with combinations of his own.

Alvarez never gave his mitts a breather, with the stellar body sapping Gaethje of his gas tank by the second round. The 29-year-old Gaethje valiantly marched through the punches and tagged Alvarez on more than one occasion, but his output waned as fatigue sunk its hooks in.

With his lead leg swollen and chewed up by Gaethje's early efforts, a resilient Alvarez continued to put a suffocating pace on his foe in Round 3, and finally sent him to the canvas with a knee to the button for the stoppage with just over a minute to go in the spirited scrap we'd all hoped for.

Gaethje loses for the first time in 19 pro fights after stopping Michael Johnson in an instant classic this past July in his UFC debut.