Ex-UFC, Bellator champ Eddie Alvarez opens up his retirement stance ahead of BKFC's KnuckleMania 5

Eddie Alvarez is one of the few MMA legends still competing in combat sports, and being 40 and having more than 40 professional fights, it's safe to assume the end of his career is near.

But how close is retirement for "The Underground King"?

It seems the combat sports won't get a heads-up, as that's something that Alvarez wants to keep close to his vest. Alvarez, who returns on Jan. 25 in the main event of BKFC's KnuckleMania 5 against fellow veteran Jeremy Stephens, wants his decision to hang up the gloves to be between him and his family and also not surrounding any competition.

"I'll never make that decision on a Fight Night or even before a fight," Alvarez told MMA Junkie. "I've been taking longer layoffs in between fights over the past probably like three or four years, taking longer layoffs to kind of find out who I am outside of fighting. I'll never make that decision before or after a fight. That will be like, me and my wife will have some coffee and one morning I'm just going to say, 'Hey, I think I'm done,' and that will be it.

"I think that is a moment for me and my wife. We started this together with our four children. We put fighting first. We kind of married this whole game, me, my kids, my wife, and we traveled the whole world and put it in front of everything for the last 20 years. So that will be a special moment (for me and my wife), where I'll just say, 'Hey, I think it's enough. I think we're good.'"

Alvarez, who's held lightweight titles in both UFC and Bellator, is eager to get back in the ring. Although his bout against Stephens might not be legacy defining, he still sees this as a very important moment in his career.

"For me, it's a bucket list," Alvarez said. "I fought for many promotions and I only got to come to Philadelphia like 14 years ago, and that was only one time ever. Philadelphia has always had licensing issues with MMA, and then it had some licensing issues with bareknuckle, but now that's all past. I started fighting in the streets of Philly with no gloves on. At 19 years old, I decided to put gloves on for a career, and now it's come full circle, and I've taken my gloves back off and headed to a sold-out Wells Fargo (Center) on Jan. 25 and get to do my thing in front of my city."

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This article originally appeared on MMA Junkie: Ex-UFC, Bellator champ Eddie Alvarez opens up his retirement stance ahead of BKFC's KnuckleMania 5