When the news broke that Gilbert Melendez tested positive for exogenous origin of testosterone metabolites after his UFC 188 loss Eddie Alvarez, many were shocked, having long since pegged Melendez as the sort of fighter who wouldn't use performance-enhancing drugs.

Alvarez, who came out of the Mexico City bout with a broken orbital bone and nose and an injured elbow, was among them.

"I never looked at him as someone who would use something like that," the former Bellator lightweight champion said on a recent edition of The MMA Hour.

But then, Alvarez also admits to a bit of naivete when it comes to who in the sport is using and who is clean.

"I'm really gullible with that stuff," Alvarez said. "I assume nobody does it. When I train with guys, I assume they don't do that stuff, it's pretty rampant. I'm like a f------ unicorn in this sport, I'm a weirdo in that I don't do anything."

Alvarez says that as far as he knows, everyone he trains with is clean, including Frankie Edgar, who's passed every drug test he's taken in his distinguished career. So despite the mounting evidence of MMA's PED issues, Alvarez admits he's always a little surprised when he finds out someone is using.

"I've been around the sport so long, I'm gullible, a lot of guys I train with, surround myself with don't," Alvarez said. "Frankie Edgar, the guys I train with and hang out with don't. So for me its not a normal thing to do, but you hear all these things, this guy's doing it, guys you assume are never doing it get caught, you're like, damn, man, everybody's on this s---. I feel more and more like a f------ unicorn. What am I, a dork because I don't do it?"

We're entering the era in which stricter protocols are coming into place, with the USADA administering out-of-competition testing to UFC fighters, and greatly increased penalties for usage. Alvarez suspects we're going to see a rapid changing of the guard.

"Now that all these strict rules are in place for steroids, all these guys are coming out and looking like bags of s---," Alvarez said. "Their bodies are changing because they can't use. I've been doing this sport 11 years, drug free, never any enhancement. Now all these guys who needed stuff, they're all going to fall off. You're going to see their performances die, their bodies look like s---, guys like myself and guys who have been drug free their whole career are going to be able to rise."

And Alvarez will have his opportunity to rise come Jan. 17. While not yet officially announced by the UFC, Alvarez is expecting to meet returning former UFC lightweight champion Anthony Pettis in Boston, a challenge that has Alvarez quite excited.

"He's the number one guy in the division right now," Alvarez said. "I wanted him and I didn't think they were going to let me fight him. I love the style matchup, he doesn't do well against guys that fight with my sort of style so I wanted him first of all because its an opportunity to move up in ranking as opposed to where I thought they were going to have me fight, because there wasn't anyone available. I thought they were going to have me fight someone top 15 or something like that, where I was going to fight a fight where it would get me nowhere. So just to be able to fight him for me was a blessing, to be able to get my hands on him."

Alvarez sees the fight as a bad style matchup for Pettis. Alvarez made his name with his relentless, forward-moving style, and for all Pettis' considerable skills, he runs into trouble -- most famously his title loss to Rafael dos Anjos in April -- against guys who aren't afraid to get in his face.

"Guys who like to fight, get in there face, pressure, go forward, historically he hasn't done well," Alvarez said. "He does a lot of good things, I"m not downing him, I just think it's a very good style matchup for me, to go in and by myself and not have to adjust or change anything that I do, I think I can do very well against this guy."

Alvarez, of course, lost his Bellator championship to Michael Chandler and then regained it in what remains the two greatest fights in company history. So he knows he's going to meet Pettis at his most motivated. But he says that still won't be enough.

"As an ex champion myself, it's always the most highly motivated, well trained person you're going to go against," Alvarez said. "After coming off your loss of a title, you're your most motivated, you're waking up early, going to be late,its just one of the things where you want to get back, prove to the fans and prove to the world you're a champion. I'm expecting that guy, but that guy won't be good enough."