Rebney confirms Alvarez-Chandler 3 will be Bellator's first pay-per-view this spring
Rumored since shortly after their second fight, it now is official: The trilogy bout between Eddie Alvarez and Michael Chandler will be on pay-per-view.
Bellator CEO Bjorn Rebney on Monday confirmed the news on a media call announcing the promotion’s first event of its upcoming 10th season. Rebney did not announce a date or location for the event, but Bellator’s first seven events of the season already are mapped out, meaning the third meeting between the two lightweights won’t take place prior to mid-April.
Bellator opens Season 10 on Feb. 28, Rebney on Monday announced, with a light-heavyweight tournament featuring Quinton “Rampage†Jackson and Muhammed “King Mo†Lawal on opposite ends of the bracket from each other.
This past November, Rebney told MMAjunkie that a third fight between the two was a near-lock for the company’s first pay-per-view event. In fact, the second fight between Alvarez (25-3 MMA, 10-1 BMMA) and Chandler (12-1 MMA, 9-1 BMMA) was supposed to be the co-main event of Bellator’s first pay-per-view before the promotion scrapped plans for pay TV to put Bellator 106 on its normal Spike TV home.
“It’ll be a pay-per-view event; we haven’t finalized the date yet, but it’ll be incredible,†Rebney said on Monday.â€The first fight they had was the best fight I’d ever seen live. The second fight was one of the best fights I’ve ever seen. Sometimes, guys just match up stylistically and they can’t help but give you pure magic when they get in the cage. These guys are that.â€
Alvarez and Chandler first met in November 2011 when Alvarez was lightweight champion. In a major upset, Chandler stopped him with a fourth-round submission in a bout that was many peoples’ pick for “Fight of the Year.â€
Chandler went on to defend the the title twice after that with stoppages, while Alvarez won another pair of fights, but then got mired in a messy legal battle with Bellator over his contract after he pursued free agency.
After mending fences and settling differences enough to get back to work, Alvarez was given a title rematch with Chandler at Bellator 106. And there, he won a split decision to recapture the title.
Although Rebney couldn’t yet pinpoint a date, he said both fighters have healed from their November clash and are getting back to work. Rebney also said the promotion will take the same mentality it took when Bellator 106 was going to be a pay-per-view. Rather than picking a specific across-the-board price, he said cable and satellite providers across the country will be charged with picking the price point for each market.
MMAJunkie