 |
| Image via Eric Coleman, Bellator |
Bellator's first pay-per-view card is being headlined by two legends of the sport. The only problem with legends is that normally means their old and their best days are way past them. As a result the common thought was that for Bellator's first pay-per-view event to be considered watchable (and buyable), it would need to add fights that people actually wanted to see. Michael Chandler was a name being thrown around and after his showing last week it would have been stupid to not have him on the card. Boy did Bellator deliver. Not only have they turned a card I had no interest in watching into something I will drop some schillings for, they have booked one of the most anticipated rematches in the last few years.
Alvarez, who hasn't fought since October 2012 and signed a free agent deal with the UFC, has been involved in a bitter lawsuit with Bellator over their contract provision to match any offer from another promotion. Considering that Bellator's owner Viacom primarily deals with basic cable, the thought was Bellator was producing a pay-per-view card solely to keep Alvarez from winning his court battle. However, it seems time (and likely a boatload of PPV money) heals all wounds, when Alvarez told
USA Today, "I couldn't be happier right now...We've been trying to settle since the very beginning of this. We were able to compromise and put it behind us. I'm happy to put my name on the dotted line and move forward with my career."
Ariel Helwani of mmafighting.com
reported that sources said if Alvarez loses he is free to walk away but if he beats Chandler he'll be contractually obligated to do a trilogy. So while it seems that Alvarez isn't long for the Bellator ring, the fighting audience will be left with one or potentially two more fights between these two top ten lightweights.
