(You know, I was a little concerned about the idea of standard fighter uniforms in the UFC…until this very moment. Photo via Eddie’s Instagram.)
We don’t mean to jump the gun here, but multiple sources are confirming that Bellator lightweight champion Eddie Alvarez is in talks to face Donald Cerrone at the already stacked UFC 178 card in September. To repeat: UFC 178. Eddie Alvarez. Donald f*cking Cer-ro-ne.
This potential meeting of top lightweights is heavily dependent, of course, on whether or not the UFC is able to acquire Alvarez from Bellator, as he is still under contract with his much maligned promotion. But Scott Coker is no Bjorn Rebney, and Alvarez is no Gina Carano, so expect to hear the official word of Alvarez’s signing any day now.
Alvarez has not fought since reclaiming the Bellator lightweight championship via a split decision win over Michael Chandler in their rematch at Bellator 106. He was scheduled to face Chandler in a trilogy-completing match at Bellator’s inaugural pay-per-view until a concussion in training took him down and saw him replaced by Will Brooks, who went on to also defeat Chandler by split decision. Despite this fact, Bellator was still targeting Alvarez-Chandler III (under Rebney’s insistence), because that whole “title shots are earned, not given” thing is more of a guideline than a rule.
Cerrone, on the other hand, has been doing what Cerrone do so far in 2014: Beating the living shit out of any non-title contender in the UFC’s lightweight division. Cowboy has fought three times since January, sandwiching a submission victory over Edson Barboza between head kick knockouts of Adriano Martins and Jim Miller at UFC on FOX 10 and Fight Night 45, respectively. A win over Alvarez would easily be enough to earn Cerrone the title shot that has eluded him for some three years now, over the course of which he has fought an incredible 14 times for the UFC.
We’ll let you know as soon as this thing is made official.