Bellator Fighting championships CEO Bjorn Rebney is facing the loss of two of the promotions biggest names in former lightweight champ Eddie Alvarez and current middleweight title holder Hector Lombard.
Alvarez is on the remaining few fights of his contract while Lombard’s contract finished late last year.
Speaking as a guest on MMAWeekly.com Radio, Rebney talked about some of the contract negotiations with both fighters. Here is what he had to say about Alvarez, who is set to face Shiny Aoki in just a few short weeks in the main event of Bellator 66.
“We’ve got two fights left, we’ve got the (Shinya) Aoki fight then we’ve got one more after that. he guy has been just unbelievably good and positive for this organization. He’s been good and positive for Bellator, he’s also been good and positive for the entirety of MMA. Much like our situation with Hector Lombard, right now Hector’s a little bit further along cause I signed him earlier than I signed Ed, but you remember Hector and Ed were signed in 08?.
“It’s coming up on four years and that’s the length of the deal when you win world titles and the extensions are done. We don’t have any champion’s clauses in our contracts, which locks guys in for life, so those contracts are going to come to an end. You’re going to have a brief exclusive negotiation period, and when that ends you’re going to have the right to match an offer that anybody else would make, and we’ve got the right to match.”
“We’ll see what happens in the Aoki fight, and we’ll see what happens in Ed’s last fight under the banner and then we’ll address the Ed situation, much like we’ve addressed the Hector situation.”