Bellator lightweight champion Eddie Alvarez successfully defended his title this past weekend, winning via unanimous decision against Pat Curran. It was a bout where the*champion*won another one sided affair against*questionable competition for a top fighter.*That’s the norm as of late, and Alvarez appears to be aware that he needs to make some changes to be*considered the best. However, he*has*more work to do before those changes can take place.*Alvarez recently spoke about his fighting future with*Ariel Helwani and had this to say:*â€I want to be someone so I have some sort of leverage,†Alvarez said Monday on The MMA Hour.“I don’t want to be the next disposable 155-pounder who can be thrown out the window if he has a loss or two. I want to make myself indispensable and make a name for myself before I ever negotiate with a company like [the UFC].â€
“I can’t tell my three kids, ‘Hey, daddy’s going to take a shot and take a risk and take a paycut and hopefully I make it,†Alvarez said. “It’s got to be more than that for me. I got to secure myself and secure my family.
“I’m going to do the right thing to become No. 1,†he continued. “That’s one of my main concern, but it’s also to protect my financial security with my family too.â€
It’s a tough situation for Alvarez for sure, because right now he’s ranked as one of the top lightweights in the world. However, he hasn’t beaten a ranked lightweight since taking out*Tatsuya Kawajiri*at DREAM*5 in*July 2008. So that’s*7 fights in a row that he’s gone without fighting any of the top lightweights in the world(eight fights if you count the submission loss to Aoki). So just exactly what kind of leverage is he talking about? He has the following going against him:“I can’t tell my three kids, ‘Hey, daddy’s going to take a shot and take a risk and take a paycut and hopefully I make it,†Alvarez said. “It’s got to be more than that for me. I got to secure myself and secure my family.
“I’m going to do the right thing to become No. 1,†he continued. “That’s one of my main concern, but it’s also to protect my financial security with my family too.â€
-Zuffa*has almost all of the top lightweights in the world under contract.
-He’s*getting very*little exposure on MTV2 as Bellator’s ratings having been pretty poor.
-He’s not a proven PPV draw.
-He’s getting paid a lot of money to beat*guys that are not ranked anywhere*near the top ten(would Zuffa be willing to*equal what*Bellator pays him)*
It’s pretty savvy of him to align himself in his current situation. The*question is can he get himself out of this current situation? I don’t*see how he can make himself indispensable when he has all of the above factors*going against him. How can he make a name for himself when the Bellator viewer ratings are poor, and he’s not beating the top guys?
I’m not a Alvarez hater, you can see where I have him ranked right here.
Now, Alvarez just turned 27 years old this past January, so he’s right in his prime.*However, since he is the Bellator champion it could prove difficult to ever negotiate with the UFC in terms of a contract unless he were to lose. However, in that case*his stock would plummet and any leverage he thought he had would*evaporate.
Not Indispensable.
I applaud him for taking care of his family, but*there’s only one thing he can do if he really wants to be the best lightweight in the world.*That means fighting the other best lightweights in the world.*Along with that comes more exposure, better competition, more money, and more leverage.
All he would have to do is win.
It’s not entirely the same situation, but history could repeat itself*with Alvarez going down the same path as Fedor*Emelianenko. Can Alvarez afford to stay with Bellator, or would it be cool for him to get paid well while beating*questionable competition the rest of his career?
Filed Under: MMA
Tags: Bellator, Eddie Alvarez, featured, Mixed Martial-Arts, UFC
Powered By WizardRSS.com | Full Text Feeds | Amazon Plugins
