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By: Jamie Penick, MMATorch Editor-in-Chief
In what would be a massive lightweight fight for UFC 178, Sherdog.com reports that the UFC is trying to put together a fight between Eddie Alvarez and Donald Cerrone.
As of now, Alvarez remains under contract to Bellator, but with Scott Coker taking over for Bjorn Rebney, there is movement on the idea they are willing and perhaps close to parting ways with him. After all, he's already beaten Michael Chandler, and doing so again - or beating Will Brooks in a unification bout - would send him into free agency anyway.
For Cerrone, with a bout against Khabib Nurmagomedov falling through for the event, he's hoping to secure a big fight. He's won four straight fights, stopping each of those opponents along the way. Most recently, he knocked out Jim Miller at UFC Fight Night 45 earlier this month.
If the fight happens, it will add to an already stacked UFC 178 event, which takes place September 27 and will be headlined by a Light Heavyweight Championship bout between Jon Jones and Daniel Cormier.
Penick's Analysis: It's the right move for Bellator to just let Alvarez go at this point. It should have happened under the Rebney regime, and instead, after a lengthy legal battle, they came to a settlement that ultimately backfired on them after Alvarez beat Chandler and Brooks did the same. Obviously, if they booked him against Chandler or Brooks and he lost, they wouldn't be hurt by it at all, and would have a chance to retain him for longer. However, they run the risk of him winning and leaving their lightweight division in a bad spot regardless of which of them he beat. Letting him go now avoids that, and gives off the impression that the organization is going to be better for fighters than they were with Rebney at the helm. On top of that, this fight just needs to happen now that it's been teased out in front of everyone.
[Eddie Alvarez photo (c) Henry Dziekan III]
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Jamie Penick, editor-in-chief
(mmatorcheditor@gmail.com)
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