Former Bellator lightweight champion Eddie Alvarez is coming off of a loss to Michael Chandler and now is scheduled for a April 20 date with Shinya Aoki, who holds one of the other two losses on the career record of Alvarez, but if Alvarez should preva…
Former Bellator lightweight champion Eddie Alvarez is coming off of a loss to Michael Chandler and now is scheduled for a April 20 date with Shinya Aoki, who holds one of the other two losses on the career record of Alvarez, but if Alvarez should prevail over Aoki, or even if he should stumble against Aoki, he’s not left with many other options.
In reality, there’s one other option for a man like Alvarez to take on, but alas, it’s not in Bellator’s changing lightweight landscape, and Strikeforce has little to offer outside of GIlbert Melendez and a stylistic nightmare against Josh Thomson.
It’s a long shot, but if Alvarez finds his way into the UFC, it’s exactly what he needs, primarily because his relentless pace and die-hard style of combat is, in no soft terminology, a dilemma for any UFC lightweight with two eyes, two ears and two fists.
In preparation for Aoki—and even after Aoki—there is no question that Alvarez has recognized everything he needs to work on, and while he may not show everything he’ll want to show the world, what he does display ought to leave no doubt in anyone’s mind that Alvarez is still among the division’s elite, even if not necessarily a top-10 fighter.
Besides that, he’s going up against a consistently world-ranked top-10 name at 155 in the form of “The Master of Flying Submissions,” and Alvarez has to be thinking in his head that the consensus does seem to be that Aoki has made twice the improvements to his game that Alvarez wants himself to believe that he’s made, but the joy of being in Alvarez’s position is what comes if he does beat Aoki.
Yes, the excuses of Aoki being “too one-dimensional” for Alvarez are inevitable if an Alvarez win should come, but if that should be the case, let us not tap into that repulsive mode of demoting the merit behind the victory and instead, let an Alvarez win remember that Alvarez did beat a high-level opponent that was thought to be more UFC-ready than many believe Alvarez will ever be.
Aoki’s not Gray Maynard, nor is he Nate Diaz or Donald Cerrone or Jim Miller, but what Aoki presents is what a lot of the UFC lightweight division’s ranks comprise of these days, as more submission masters and dangerous BJJ aces are rising up due to their ability to rise up against some of the toughest of the top competition in the division.
If Alvarez beats Aoki and avenges that loss, who’s to say he can’t hold his own in the UFC?
A win would be better for the Philadelphia-based fighter, of course, but it’s now or never on his UFC chances, because while he’ll get some of the best in the world, many in the MMA world will dismiss the victories unless they come against fighters from the world’s largest proving ground.
We may be in a golden age, or at least an incredibly good season for new fight docs, taters.
There’s “Like Water,” on Anderson Silva, “I am Bruce Lee,” and soon, an interesting-looking doc on lightweight Eddie Alvarez (22-3).
In addition to being a GOP policy stance, “No Plan B,” is a new film by David Klayman that chronicles Alvarez in the lead-up to what may still be his most high profile to date: his bout with former Sports Illustrated cover boy Roger Huerta back in 2010.
The trailer for the movie shows Alvarez at home with family, as well as training and consulting with champion/east coast colleagues Bernard Hopkins and Frankie Edgar. The title of the film is derived from a quote and apparent philosophy of Alvarez’. “…I’m not much of a planner,” he says. “I set a goal and there really is nothing else. So, there is no ‘plan b.'”
Although Alvarez suffered a rare loss in his last fight to Michael Chandler, he will have a chance to avenge a prior defeat when he takes on Shinya Aoki (30-5) at the Bellator card on April 20 in Cleveland, Ohio.
Check out the trailer for “No Plan B” after the jump, and stay tuned for reviews of this and other docs coming soon to CagePotato.
By Elias Cepeda
We may be in a golden age, or at least an incredibly good season for new fight docs, taters.
There’s “Like Water,” on Anderson Silva, “I am Bruce Lee,” and soon, an interesting-looking doc on lightweight Eddie Alvarez (22-3).
In addition to being a GOP policy stance, “No Plan B,” is a new film by David Klayman that chronicles Alvarez in the lead-up to what may still be his most high profile to date: his bout with former Sports Illustrated cover boy Roger Huerta back in 2010.
The trailer for the movie shows Alvarez at home with family, as well as training and consulting with champion/east coast colleagues Bernard Hopkins and Frankie Edgar. The title of the film is derived from a quote and apparent philosophy of Alvarez’. “…I’m not much of a planner,” he says. “I set a goal and there really is nothing else. So, there is no ‘plan b.’”
Although Alvarez suffered a rare loss in his last fight to Michael Chandler, he will have a chance to avenge a prior defeat when he takes on Shinya Aoki (30-5) at the Bellator card on April 20 in Cleveland, Ohio.
Check out the trailer for “No Plan B” and stay tuned for reviews of this and other docs coming soon to CagePotato.
(Conveniently, Bellator failed to mention whether or not this is a title fight.)
Bellator Fighting Championships announced today that a main event match-up between Bellator lightweight champ Michael Chandler and PRIDE and UFC vet Akihiro Gono will close out its planned Bellator 67 card May 4 at Casino Rama in Rama, Ontario Canada.
A crafty veteran, Gono (32-17-7) should provide a challenge for the undefeated newly crowned 155-pound BFC champ.
“I’m just excited to get back into the cage,” Chandler said of the planned bout. “I fought four times in 2011 and I’m ready to get back to work. Gono has beaten some of the best fighters in the sport and this should be a good test for me.”
(Conveniently, Bellator failed to mention whether or not this is a title fight.)
Bellator Fighting Championships announced today that a main event match-up between Bellator lightweight champ Michael Chandler and PRIDE and UFC vet Akihiro Gono will close out its planned Bellator 67 card May 4 at Casino Rama in Rama, Ontario Canada.
A crafty veteran, Gono (32-17-7) should provide a challenge for the undefeated newly crowned 155-pound BFC champ.
“I’m just excited to get back into the cage,” Chandler said of the planned bout. “I fought four times in 2011 and I’m ready to get back to work. Gono has beaten some of the best fighters in the sport and this should be a good test for me.”
While Gono, 37, holds the edge in experience, 25-year-old Chandler has an advantage in youth and well-roundedness. An All American wrestler who has worked tirelessly with former Xtreme Couture boxing coach Gil Martinez to improve his striking, Chandler also possesses a fierce submission game. Although one could argue that Gono, who is 4-6 in his last ten and 0-2 in his past two fights, is a step down in competition for the 9-0 Missouri fighter who defeated Eddie Alvarez and Patricky “Pitbull” Feire in his last two outings, it should still be an entertaining fight.
The event will be broadcast LIVE starting at 8 p.m. ET on MTV2 and in commercial-free HD on EPIX. Doors open at 6 p.m. EST, with the first fight scheduled for 7 p.m. EST. The preliminary card, featuring the area’s top local talent will be streamed LIVE and FREE around the world on Spike.com starting at 7 p.m. ET.
Aside from its placement atop nearly every MMA fan’s “Favorite Fights” list, Stephan Bonnar and Forrest Griffin‘s war at the first TUF Finale is widely considered to be the fight responsible for popularizing MMA into the near mainstream sport it is today. Well, believe it or not, that fight almost didn’t happen on account of Bonnar’s uncontrollable desire for bottom shelf alcohol, specifically, Mad Dog. Although Bonnar has told this story with a slightly different spin before, Dana White recently discussed the craziness that was the first season of The Ultimate Fighter, and how Bonnar almost got himself kicked off the show:
The first season of the ‘Ultimate Fighter’ was the longest season we’ve ever done. It was something like 8 weeks and those guys were losing their (expletive) minds. I almost kicked (Stephan) Bonnar off the show.
Bonnar turned the shower on, climbed out the window and went to find a liquor store. Remember we took all the liquor out after that big fight? These idiots…we had been driving these guys around for six or seven weeks and the house is in the middle of nowhere. There was no liquor store near there. The guy was walking around for an hour and thirty minutes. So much crazy (expletive) happened that first season. Imagine if I had kicked off him off the show for going to a liquor store? Forrest (Griffin) and Stephan would have never happened.
Aside from its placement atop nearly every MMA fan’s “Favorite Fights” list, Stephan Bonnar and Forrest Griffin‘s war at the first TUF Finale is widely considered to be the fight responsible for popularizing MMA into the near mainstream sport it is today. Well, believe it or not, that fight almost didn’t happen on account of Bonnar’s uncontrollable desire for bottom shelf alcohol, specifically, Mad Dog. Although Bonnar has told this story with a slightly different spin before, Dana White recently discussed the craziness that was the first season of The Ultimate Fighter, and how Bonnar almost got himself kicked off the show:
The first season of the ‘Ultimate Fighter’ was the longest season we’ve ever done. It was something like 8 weeks and those guys were losing their (expletive) minds. I almost kicked (Stephan) Bonnar off the show.
Bonnar turned the shower on, climbed out the window and went to find a liquor store. Remember we took all the liquor out after that big fight? These idiots…we had been driving these guys around for six or seven weeks and the house is in the middle of nowhere. There was no liquor store near there. The guy was walking around for an hour and thirty minutes. So much crazy (expletive) happened that first season. Imagine if I had kicked off him off the show for going to a liquor store? Forrest (Griffin) and Stephan would have never happened.
Speaking of the Crue, does anyone get the feeling that Greg Jackson is Afraid to corner Jon Jones for his upcoming title defense against Team Jackson’s Bastardchild, Rashad Evans? Because he sure seemed on the fence about it when questioned on the issue during an appearance on The Savage Dog Show:
I’m going back and forth now because I have to think about what it means to be on a team. Are we just a collection of friends that train together? For me, it’s much more than that. It means something to be on this team and it means something to have teammates. Rashad kind of left that. I don’t know, I’m leaning toward cornering Jon right now. Just because, am I selfish, am I going to make this about me? Or am I gonna make this about the team? I can’t be self-centered. Even though it’s something that I don’t want to do, it might end up that way.
I still consider him a friend. Right now he’s really angry, and he’s saying a lot of negative things. I don’t want much to do with that, so I’m just kind of keeping my distance, so that’s where we’re at.
It makes no sense for me to rejoin a tournament and fight three guys that people don’t really care to see me fight rather than fight someone a Shinya Aoki, who is ranked in my weight class. I haven’t fought anyone ranked in my weight class in God knows how long. I’d be stupid not to take this fight. He’s ranked top five in my weight class, I believe, and it’ll get me back into the rankings. I’ll be able to forward positively.
Though it’s hard to blame Alvarez for this revelation, I, for one, would rather he fight for the chance of a possible rematch with Michael Chandler, considering how epic their first encounter was. Then again, watching Aoki butt scoot around Bellator’s rather gigantic cage for 15 minutes could prove to be entertaining in its own right.
@nickdiaz209 won that fight in my opinion. He is what every fighter should be a true martial artists who comes to fight. Well prepared and with a gameplan. Not one that [involves] running from a fight. Why come to fight if you gonna run? Hackney was running when we fought and I had to take the fight to him, Shamrock showed up not to lose in our rematch it’s a shame really. I for one am proud of Nick and happy he is part of Grace Jiu-jitsu family.
Well, we can go ahead and discredit anything Gracie says from this day forward, because you would have to be insane to believe that Keith Hackney would run from anybody…ever. He was not running from you, Mr. Gracie, he was simply luring you in using a level of mental warfare that you have not even begun to understand. You think you won that fight, simply because Keith allowed you to put him in an armlock? Please, this man defeated both a serial killer and a killer whale in hand to hand combat, and simply threw the fight for the good of the sport. You should be thanking him.
(Aoki/Alvarez 1, from K1 Dynamite 2008. THIS is how men fight.)
A lot has happened in the four years since Eddie Alvarez was heel-hooked by Shinya Aoki in the first round of their inaugural lightweight championship match back in December of 2008. Aoki has fought a remarkable 13 times since then, picking up notable wins over Marcus Aurelio and Rich Clementi as well as evening the score with DREAM rival Joachim Hansen. He has only gone 1-1 in the States, however, dropping a humiliating unanimous decision to current Strikeforce lightweight champ Gilbert Melendez and notching a quick neck crank submission over Lyle Beerbohm.
Alvarez, on the other hand, went on to become the Bellator lightweight champion after defeating Toby Imada at Bellator 12 in June of ’09, but defended the belt only once in the five fights that succeeded it. We last saw the Philadelphia Fight Factory standout lose said title via fourth round submission in an absolute war with Michael Chandler at Bellator 58 that was my personal pick for 2011’s Fight of the Year.
Well now it seems that these two are destined to collide ONCE AGAIN, in what will surely be…an absolute war (isn’t it funny how you can impersonate Mike Goldberg without even talking?).
(Aoki/Alvarez 1, from K1 Dynamite 2008. THIS is how men fight.)
A lot has happened in the four years since Eddie Alvarez was heel-hooked by Shinya Aoki in the first round of their inaugural lightweight championship match back in December of 2008. Aoki has fought a remarkable 13 times since then, picking up notable wins over Marcus Aurelio and Rich Clementi as well as evening the score with DREAM rival Joachim Hansen. He has only gone 1-1 in the States, however, dropping a humiliating unanimous decision to current Strikeforce lightweight champ Gilbert Melendez and notching a quick neck crank submission over Lyle Beerbohm.
Alvarez, on the other hand, went on to become the Bellator lightweight champion after defeating Toby Imada at Bellator 12 in June of ’09, but defended the belt only once in the five fights that succeeded it. We last saw the Philadelphia Fight Factory standout lose said title via fourth round submission in an absolute war with Michael Chandler at Bellator 58 that was my personal pick for 2011′s Fight of the Year.
Well now it seems that these two are destined to collide ONCE AGAIN, in what will surely be…an absolute war (isn’t it funny how you can impersonate Mike Goldberg without even talking?). Bellator officials have hinted that the long awaited rematch “should be happening soon,” and considering Alvarez’s name is noticeably absent from the season six lightweight tournament, the likelihood of this rematch happening in the near future is all the more evident. Let’s just hope Aoki doesn’t go entering himself in one of those wacky mixed rule bouts that are supposed to be squash matches anytime soon, and this one should be a lock, ladies and gentlemen.
I went ahead and posted the Alvarez/Chandler fight below. If you’ve got an extra 20 minutes to spare (and let’s be honest, you do), check out one of the most entertaining fights in recent memory.
Former Bellator lightweight champion Eddie Alvarez is coming off of a loss to Michael Chandler and now is scheduled for a April 20 date with Shinya Aoki, who holds one of the other two losses on the career record of Alvarez, but if Alvarez should prevail over Aoki, or even if he should stumble against Aoki, he’s not left with many other options.
