After a long contract dispute that saw Eddie Alvarez potentially missing at least one more year of competition, Alvarez has re-signed with Bellator Fighting Championships.
Terms of the deal have not been disclosed, and will remain confidential as Bellator CEO Bjorn Rebney told MMAJunkie.com. Ariel Helwani has reported that this is a one and done fight for Alvarez if he loses; with a win he’ll be obligated for a third fight with Alvarez.
Alvarez (24-3, 8-1 BFC) will return to the Bellator cage on Nov. 2 as Bellator presents their first pay-per-view event, and he will get the fight he was wanting all along as he will meet Bellator Lightweight Champion Michael Chandler (12-0, 9-0 BFC) in the night’s co-main event.
Alvarez and Chandler fought for the championship, which was held by Alvarez at the time, at Bellator 58 in November 2011. In one of the best fights of that year, and arguably the best fight in the history of the Bellator promotion, Chandler submitted Alvarez with a rear-naked choke in the fourth round to win the championship.
Since then, both men haven’t lost a fight. Alvarez scored first-round knockout wins over Shinya Aoki and Patricky Freire to finish out his original Bellator contract. He was then offered a contract with the UFC, and Bellator officials said they matched the deal. Both sides filed lawsuits against the other, and a legal battle was ensuing that was set to go to trial in September 2014. Alvarez and Bellator, after a bitter public feud, have no settled and Alvarez will get to resume his fighting career.
Chandler has also scored three straight stoppage wins since his win over Alvarez. He most recently scored a 44-second knockout win over David Rickels in a title defense at Bellator 97 on July 31. He also submitted Rick Hawn in January in another title defense, and scored a knockout of Akihiro Gono in May 2012 in a non-title bout.
Bellator 106 takes place from the Long Beach Arena in Long Beach, California. Quinton ‘Rampage’ Jackson and Tito Ortiz will meet in a light heavyweight bout in the night’s main event.
