Bellator Looking To Match Eddie Alvarez Against Shinya Aoki In Early 2012

Tweet Bellator Fighting Championships is working on putting together an exciting “Super Fight” for 2012 by pitting DREAM lightweight champ Shinya Aoki (28-5, 1NC) against Bellator lightweight champ Eddie Alvarez (22-2) in a non-title bout. The fight would be a rematch of their first meeting back in December of 2008. Sherdog.com broke the news on […]

Bellator Fighting Championships is working on putting together an exciting “Super Fight” for 2012 by pitting DREAM lightweight champ Shinya Aoki (28-5, 1NC) against Bellator lightweight champ Eddie Alvarez (22-2) in a non-title bout. The fight would be a rematch of their first meeting back in December of 2008.

Sherdog.com broke the news on Wednesday after learning of the match from sources close to the situation. The website noted that fight agreements had been issued to both fighters who were expected to sign soon.

This would certainly be an indication that DREAM is still looking to book cross-promotion matches with North American organizations after their recent partner, Strikeforce, was bought up by the UFC.

Alvarez and Aoki fought for the first time back on December 31, 2008 at the Dynamite!! 2008 event in Japan. Aoki was able to secure a heel hook submission in the first forcing Alvarez to tap at 1:32.

Since that loss, Alvarez has gone undefeated winning seven straight matches, including winning the Bellator title after winning the promotions season one lightweight tournament. Alvarez last fight came in April of this year, his first title defense, defeating Pat Curran by unanimous decision at Bellator 39. He is scheduled to put his title on the line against Michael Chandler this October in the main event of Bellator 54.

Aoki is currently riding a five bout win streak and has gone 9-2 since his win over Alvarez. The DREAM champ is expected to meet Rob McCullough on September 17 at the upcoming DREAM.17 event in Japan. Aoki hasn’t defended his DREAM title since July of last year against Tatsuya Kawajiri.