...OH, ONE MORE THING - PLEASE BOOKMARK US & VISIT DAILY!
By: Jamie Penick, MMATorch Editor-in-Chief
For years, Eddie Alvarez and Gilbert Melendez were two of the best 155 lb. fighters outside of the UFC, sitting as Champions for Bellator and Strikeforce, respectively. Now, both are in the UFC, and they've been trading verbal jabs in several interviews over the past month.
Alvarez hopes to establish himself as the next title challenger should he beat Donald Cerrone at UFC 178 next week, and because he still feels there's unfinished business with Melendez, he's pulling for his rival against Anthony Pettis later this year at UFC 181.
"I hope Melendez beats Pettis," Alvarez said in an interview with MMAFighting.com. "Nothing against Pettis, but I want Melendez to win that fight. I want to beat Donald and then finally get my hands on Melendez with the title up for grabs. Best of all worlds."
Penick's Analysis: It's an understandable sentiment for Alvarez to hold. Of course, he's got to beat Cerrone to make either fight a reality for himself. Still, if he wins that fight, he obviously wants that Melendez fight to finally materialize. If Pettis beats Melendez, that doesn't put an end to the possibility of a future Alvarez-Melendez fight, it just delays things, and potentially damages how much it ultimately means if they wind up fighting in the future.
[Eddie Alvarez photo (c) Henry Dziekan III]
DON'T GO YET... WE SUGGEST THESE MMATORCH ARTICLES, TOO!
Jamie Penick, editor-in-chief
(mmatorcheditor@gmail.com)
STAFF COLUMNISTS: Shawn Ennis - Jason Amadi
Frank Hyden - Rich Hansen
Chris Park - Matt Pelkey
Interested in joining MMATorch's writing team? Send idea for a theme to your column (for Specialist section) or area of interest (i.e. TV Reporter) along with a sample of writing to mmatorch@gmail.com.