Making his eighth title defense, 34-year-old Alvarez (61-2-2) dominated much of the fight, using his experience and tenacity to wear down the 27-year-old challenger, frequently sending 20,312 fans into a frenzy.
"I did good. Now what are they going to say?" said Alvarez. "They said I don't fight young fighters. They always talk, but I'm the best fighter in the world."
Berlanga almost matched Alvarez, but the champion was far more accurate. Berlanga connected on just 119 of 446 (26.7 percent) of his punches while Alvarez landed 43.3 percent (201 of 464) of his punches and 49.1 percent (133 of 271) of his power punches.
Berlanga wouldn't go away, as he stood toe to toe and matched the machismo of Alvarez, a four-division champion, refusing to be bullied by the man he'd call "my idol" after the fight. He also got wild in the seventh, missing a wild overhand right that caused him to fall on the canvas, and was warned for a headbutt to Alvarez's face in the eighth round.It marked one of the biggest nights in combat sports on Mexican Independence Day for Las Vegas, as UFC made its debut at the Sphere, with seven Mexican fighters in the lineup.
It was a record night for the UFC as Merab Dvalishvili put on a convincing performance to capture the bantamweight championship with a unanimous decision over Sean O'Malley.The mild upset occurred before a sellout crowd of 16,024, attracting a US$22 million (HK$171.6 million) gate that UFC president Dana White said was the highest grossing in its history and for the nearly one-year-old Sphere.
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