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PHILADELPHIA -- Eddie Alvarez waited to feel the magnitude of the moment as he stood eye-to-eye with Conor McGregor on a Madison Square Garden stage. Alvarez, hyping the biggest fight of his career, wondered if nervousness would kick in as he stared down McGregor. Maybe anger. An adrenaline rush, something, that would sound the emotional bell inside his body that he shared space with one of UFCs top fighters.He had listened to McGregor yap and boast with all the theatrics reserved for a daytime talk show, and when the time hit in September for the UFC 205 headliners to finally face off, Alvarez felt nothing.My heart rate didnt go up not two beats, Alvarez said. I was standing in front of that man and I didnt feel anything. I dont know what was going on. Maybe I was just off that day. But this guy made me feel nothing.Trash talk? Perhaps, but the 32-year-old Alvarez insisted he had a detached demeanor because he viewed McGregor as just another victim on his roll call of champions that he will beat down for a win.I dont get caught up in names, Alvarez said. I just fight.His most pressure-packed fight yet -- the one that could help launch Alvarez into McGregor-type paydays -- is ahead.Alvarez makes his first UFC lightweight title defense against McGregor on Saturday night at MSG in the promotions return to New York for the first time since the state lifted the mixed martial arts ban earlier this year. McGregor, the Irish fighter with the brash public persona that made him one of UFCs top draws, is also the featherweight champion and has vowed to walk out of the cage with both championship belts draped over his shoulders.Alvarez has found the lightweight belt quite comfortable propped on one of his shoulders this summer in his native Philadelphia.He seemed primed to fill a role as Phillys one-man fifth franchise once boxer Bernard Hopkins retires in December. Alvarez has been a championship man about town, as he threw out the first pitch at a Phillies game or mingled with fans at a beer event appropriately named BrawlerFest. Hopkins even tipped his cap toward Alvarez, offering congratulations on a banner raised outside the gym where he trained.Alvarez may make history in New York. But he made his name in Philly fighting on streets, outside bars, even playgrounds, for any reason years before he became a settled family man and forged his way into the MMA cage.I never said Im going to start fighting and Im going to be the best in the world at it, Alvarez said. My original mindframe when I started was, no one could beat me in a fight. I was 19 or 18 years old. You couldnt convince I could lose a fight. You just couldnt. Id laugh at you.Alvarez, 5-foot-9, 155 pounds, was a high school wrestler who had his eyes opened to MMA when he attended a UFC card in Atlantic City, New Jersey. He became hooked when he was introduced to a group of men training in a basement near his Kensington home.It wasnt even known, The sport wasnt really anything, Alvarez said. No one knew nothing about MMA. I went, this is cool.But not cool enough to stick with the sport while he was still in high school. When he graduated, Alvarez was directionless and still spent his weekends out with the wrong crowds and getting mixed up in fights -- that kind that could have landed him in jail, not prepping for title shots.Sooner or later I was like, I need to go see those guys that went down in the basement, Alvarez said. I need to see if theyre still training and they were. Except they had a gym now.Alvarez made his pro debut after just eight months of MMA training. He went undefeated in his first 10 MMA fights and won Bellators lightweight title in 2009. He became entangled in a protracted legal conflict with Bellator and eventually signed with UFC in 2014. Alvarez was trounced by Donald Cowboy Cerrone in his first bout, but recovered with split-decision wins over Gilbert Melendez and Anthony Pettis to earn a lightweight title shot.Alvarez won the 155-pound title with a dramatic first-round stoppage of Rafael Dos Anjos in July on a UFC Fight Night card.Up next, McGregor, who is coming off a decision victory against Nate Diaz in a welterweight bout in August at UFC 202.A lot of people are going to show up to watch me beat this guy up, Alvarez said.McGregor said this week he would retire Alvarez in the fight.Its over for you. You will not fight again after this, McGregor crowed. You will not look the same. You will not think the same, and thats it.Alvarez laughed off the threat -- and made one of his own.Were about to take out arguably the biggest name in MMA, he said. Discount Air Force Ones Wholesale . Klitschkos management company says the bout will be the Ukrainian fighters 25th world championship fight. The 1.83-meter (6-foot) Leapai defeated the previously unbeaten Denis Boytsov in November to become the WBOs mandatory challenger. Discount Air Force 1 . -- Timbers coach Caleb Porter didnt stray from his business-like approach to the season even after Portland downed the two-time defending league champion Los Angeles Galaxy to gain crucial playoff position. http://www.discountairforce1.com/ . The 29-year-old Baines has established himself as one of the top attacking full backs in the country and was the subject of two bids from United during the last off-season. Everton manager Roberto Martinez says that keeping Baines at the club is a "massive boost and exciting for the future" because he brings "maturity and football knowledge in a very specialized position on the pitch" and an "infectious and positive influence to the rest of the squad. Air Force 1 Cheap Outlet . -- Canadian Andrew Wiggins got the ball on the wing, made a nifty spin move and then let go with a soft floater from about 10 feet that swished through the net in Allen Fieldhouse. Air Force 1 Cheap Wholesale . Deulofeu injured a muscle in his right leg in Evertons 4-1 win over Fulham in the English Premier League on Saturday. Barcelona says that its team doctors will "co-ordinate" with Evertons medical staff as Deulofeu recovers.DETROIT -- Prince Fielder went three weeks without a homer, and the Detroit Tigers kept right on rolling. Now that droughts over -- and Fielders team is sitting pretty in the AL Central. Fielders two-run shot in the first inning Thursday night sent the Tigers to a 4-1 victory over the Kansas City Royals. Andy Dirks added four hits for Detroit, which leads second-place Cleveland by 6 1/2 games in the division. "Prince produces runs. I dont care how he does it," Tigers manager Jim Leyland said. "Tonight happened to be by way of the home run, but hes a run producer, always has been. Its in the book and itll be in the book at the end of this year." Dirks had two doubles and two singles for the Tigers, who took the opener of this five-game series with third-place Kansas City. The Royals have lost three in a row after a 17-3 stretch that put them in contention for a post-season spot. Kansas City now trails Detroit by 8 1/2 games in the division. The Royals are 5 1/2 behind Oakland in the race for a wild card. Detroits Anibal Sanchez (11-7) allowed a run and seven hits in 7 1-3 innings. Bruce Rondon finished the eighth, and Joaquin Benoit pitched a hitless ninth for his 16th save in 16 chances. Jeremy Guthrie (12-9) allowed four runs and 13 hits in seven innings. Fielder went deep for the first time since July 24, belting a towering drive to right-centre to give Detroit a 2-1 lead. The Tigers scored two more runs in the fifth on RBI singles by Torii Hunter and Miguel Cabrera. Dirks, batting leadoff because Austin Jackson had the night off, scored twice. It was the second four-hit game of the season for Dirks, who is from Kansas and went to Wichita State. "It felt good. Its hard to explain -- its just one of those feel things," Dirks said. "I could feel the path of the bat as I was swinging. My timing was better and everything just clicks. Your legs work with your hands and different things." The Tigers won despite an atrocious night on the bases. Dirks led off the Detroit third with a double, and then was caught in a rundown when Hunter grounded to the mound. After Dirks was tagged out, the Royals got a double play becausse Hunter had turned too far around first.dddddddddddd In the sixth, Brayan Pena took too much of a turn after hitting a single, and he too was caught off the bag. Kansas City, meanwhile, stole three bases, but the Royals couldnt break through against Sanchez after scoring a run in the first inning. "We had a good scouting report today," Kansas Citys Alex Gordon said. "When youre not hitting doubles and home runs, youve got to make something happen." Gordons RBI single made it 1-0, but Dirks singled to start the bottom of the first, and Fielder went deep for his 18th homer of the season. The Royals had a man on second in the second, a man on third in the fourth and then a man on second again in the fifth. But they were 1 for 9 with runners in scoring position. After a double by Dirks in the fifth, Detroit had men on second and third with one out. Hunter singled to make it 3-1, and Cabreras fly ball to centre dropped in front of Jarrod Dyson for another run. Cabrera, who has been bothered by hip and leg injuries lately, made a nice sliding catch in foul territory near third base on an eighth-inning popup by Gordon. "Hes obviously playing in some pain," Leyland said. "Just a gutty performance, day after day. You know, weve got a lot of guys that go out there all the time -- and I dont want to slight Miggy, because hes been going out there and playing. Theres not too many guys that could do what hes doing, under the circumstances, but weve got a lot of guys that go out there." NOTES: Emilio Bonifacio, acquired by Kansas City on Wednesday in a trade with Toronto, went 1 for 4 with a stolen base. ... A concession stand was closed after a small grease fire about three hours before the first pitch sent smoke high into the air behind the scoreboard in LF, but the situation was under control quickly and hardly anyone on the field at the time seemed to notice. ... Detroit and Kansas City play a doubleheader Friday. The Tigers send RHP Justin Verlander (12-8) to the mound in the opener against Royals LHP Danny Duffy (0-0). Detroit LHP Jose Alvarez (1-2) faces Kansas City RHP James Shields (7-8) in the nightcap. ' ' '