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By: Jamie Penick, MMATorch Editor-in-Chief
The lightweight non-title clash between Roger Huerta and Eddie Alvarez has now been officially announced by Bellator Fighting Championships officials, and the fight will headline Bellator 33 in Philadelphia, Penn.
Alvarez, a native of Philadelphia, expressed his excitement about taking this fight in his hometown.
"Roger Huerta, Philadelphia, October 21st... this is a dream fight for me,” said Alvarez. “I've never even lost a fight here in the United States, so I'm definitely not going to start in my hometown of Philadelphia with all of my people there. That's not going to happen. Not a chance.
“I'm not going to be happy unless I completely control and dominate Roger in this fight. It's important for me to go in there and dominate this fight and prove that I'm one of the best lightweights in the world.”
Huerta is getting this fight after season two tournament winner Pat Curran came up injured. Curran had defeated Huerta by split decision in the season two tournament semifinals.
"The cheers or jeers won't affect me one way or the other," Huerta said. "The pressure is on him fighting in his hometown. He's going to bring the best out of me. The best. It's going to be scary.
“This is a fight that I've always wanted. It's a dream come true. It's going to be a grueling fight for the both of us. It's going to be a potential fight of the year. I'm going in there expecting a war, and I'm going in there trying to finish Eddie.”
Of course, this was a fight that Bellator had in mind when they signed Huerta to the season two tournament. As the favorite coming in, the organization was partially banking on Huerta's success in the tournament to set this fight up, and Alvarez definitely took notice.
"I don't care where you fought in the past, but if you come to my promotion and you have a big name and you're obviously marketable, and the promotion signs you, I'm going to have an issue with that,” said Alvarez. “If I don't feel threatened by that, then I'm an idiot. I feel threatened by someone like Roger trying to move into my house and I'm going to do everything I can to protect what's mine and get him out of there. I want to keep all eyes on me. I'm going to go out there and do my job and get him out of there."
Bellator founder and CEO Bjorn Rebney hyped up the fight, which will be coming to the The Liacouras Center on the campus of Temple University on October 21.
"The Alvarez-Huerta fight should be one of the most electrifying bouts in the history of Bellator Fighting Championships, and to be able to host it in one of the greatest fights towns on earth, Philadelphia is spectacular," Rebney said. "I’ve said it before, I believe Eddie Alvarez is the best Lightweight Mixed Martial Artist in the world today and for Roger to have the courage to face him speaks volumes about his confidence and character. The fans are really in for a treat with not only a great fight card, but also a fantastic host venue in The Liacouras Center."
Tickets for the event go on sale today at www.ComcastTix.com, and they are priced between $25 and $150.
Penick's Analysis: This is going to be an excellent lightweight fight for Bellator, and one of the biggest outside of the UFC in the division all year. Outside of a mega-fight between Strikeforce's Gilbert Melendez, this is by far the biggest fight Alvarez can take right now, and a win will establish his top 5 standing even further. For Huerta, he can make up for a lackluster performance against Curran with a huge win over a top 5 talent. This is definitely the best fight Bellator can put on in this third season, and MMA fans everywhere will be looking forward to it.
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Jamie Penick, editor-in-chief
(mmatorcheditor@gmail.com)
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