Former UFC lightweight champion Eddie Alvarez is amicably finished with ONE FC, but he’s not done with fighting. Alvarez knows that he’s nearing the tail end of his career, and wants to finish it out fighting on American soil. Accordingly, he’s eyeing a return to one of the two major American promotions, either the UFC or Bellator, according to a recent interview with The MMA Hour.
“The contract was coming to an end, and I spoke with my agent and I told him, ‘I would like my career to finish up in the United States.’ And when we originally sat down with ONE, the idea was that [they] would progressively move to the US.
Eddie Alvarez Leaves ONE FC, Open to UFC or Bellator Return
The plan was to have fights in Asia, and then my idea in my head was I would start in Asia, and towards the end of my contract, we would move closer to the U.S. and eventually get a fight there. Unfortunately, the pandemic threw a wrench into all of those plans and slowed the progression of that up by a lot.
I’m going to more than likely be signing my last contract, and I just want to be fighting here in the United States. I really want and need to fight in the United States to finish my career here.”
One spanner in the works might be Alvare’z “messy divorce” from Bellator, following a public dispute with former Bellator boss Njorn Rebney. He claims
“I’ve only had one bad split with one company, and it was public. Everybody knew about it. I never want to be involved in anything like that again. I never did ever since then, and I don’t think I ever will.
I’m an adult. I know the sport, I know the business. I try to add value to whatever promotion I go to. The people that I sign with, they know that. Besides the one promotion, I never really had a reason to butt heads with anybody […]
My messy divorce was with Bjorn Rebney, it wasn’t with Scott Coker. I was freed by Scott Coker. My issue was never with Bellator the name. I had a spat with the president and that president got fired.
But as long as there’s big fights and big names involved in that company, I’ll more than likely say yes and keep my options open.”
Will Eddie Alvarez return to Bellator, or perhaps under the UFC banner? Let us know what you think in the comments.
