Big things might just be in store for Bellator lightweight champion Eddie Alvarez. Speaking with MMAFighting.com‘s Ariel Helwani, he let it slip that a second Bellator MMA pay-per-view event is in the works and that (he believes) he will be headlining it alongside rival Michael Chandler.
When asked about the highly anticipated rubber match, Alvarez said, “We weren’t able to do the first one on pay per view and I really wanted to headline a pay-per-view card. Now we get an opportunity to do that.” When asked, flat out, if the card would be on pay-per-view, he replied, “Yeah, I believe so. That’s what I’m told.”
While the news that Alvarez vs. Chandler 3 is official is no surprise (the fight has been featured on the Bellator.com front page for a while now), Alvarez’s belief that Bellator is already working on another pay-per-view event is interesting.
After four years of putting on events exclusively on cable television, the second-largest promotion in America decided they would take a crack at the pay-per-view game.
From start to finish, the event was a catastrophe. The promotion was scandalized for allegedly manipulating the injury status of light heavyweight champion Attila Vegh in order to bolster the pay-per-view event with more recognizable names. The card was later taken off pay-per-view and moved to Spike TV after headliner Tito Ortiz suffered a neck injury in training.
Then, when the fights actually began, the event seemed like it would be a serious dud as five-round title fights in Pat Curran vs. Daniel Straus and Mo Lawal vs. Emanuel Newton dragged on towards boring decisions. Chandler vs. Alvarez 2 wound up salvaging the night as the two battled back and forth, culminating with a second Alvarez title reign.
The bout appeared on many Fight of the Year lists (including Bleacher Report’s) and, according to Alvarez, was good enough to earn them top billing on the second pay-per-view event.
Bellator is yet to confirm whether or not they are officially planning a second pay-per-view event, but this is definitely something worth keeping an eye on.
Stick with Bleacher Report for more details as they become available.
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