The news of his free agency is fresh, but Eddie Alvarez already senses a large amount of interest from possible suitors.
A former UFC and Bellator lightweight champion, Alvarez (30-8) recently parted ways with One Championship, the promotion he was with since 2018.
The split was amicable, according to Alvarez, who spoke more in depth about the situation Wednesday on “The MMA Hour.”
“We signed our contract and then the pandemic kind of hit,” Alvarez said. “It put a weird, little, I don’t want to say, ‘gray area,’ in the contract. It was a weird little thing that went on where there was a pause – a pretty long pause, a lot longer than what our contract sort of spelled out. Everybody involved, more than anything, the contract was coming to an end. I spoke to Lloyd (Pierson), my agent, and I said, ‘I want my fights, my career to finish up in the United States, in the U.S..’
Since news recently surfaced of his promotional departure, Alvarez indicated he’s heard from the major players. He did not specify which he has meetings set up with, but said Oct. 3 he begins a more open dialogue with potential options.
“For the most part, all of the biggest names everybody has already been mentioning have all reached out,” Alvarez said. “We have meetings with almost everyone. I’m going to hear everyone out. More than anything, I’m going to hear the fans out.”
Alvarez, 38, did not rule out a return to a former promotion – not the UFC, not Bellator. While his break up with Bellator was ugly, Alvarez attributed that to the promotion’s old headman.
“My messy divorce with Bellator was with Bjorn Rebney,” Alvarez said. “It wasn’t with Scott Coker. I was freed by Scott Coker. I was not held captive by Scott Coker. They fired Bjorn and then Scott Coker took head and I was freed. My issue was never with Bellator, the name. I had a spat with a CEO or the president and that president got fired.”
PFL is another option, acknowledged Alvarez, who said despite his age is not deterred from onboarding into a tournament-like format.
“You’re not gonna mention a company and I’m gonna go, ‘No,’” Alvarez said. “As long as there are big fights involved in that company, like the bigger names and big fights, I’m more than likely going to say, ‘Yes.’ I’m leaving my options open.”
Superfights are where things start to get a bit messy for Alvarez, who admitted the likelihood of scoring one under MMA rules, or in boxing for the right price, is low. With Nate Diaz on the market, Alvarez would be game for an MMA fight – but said it’s always fallen through in the past.
“Nate has been sent contracts with my name on them in the UFC for a while. We’ve never got a chance to fight,” Alvarez said. “I don’t know if it’s ever going to happen outside. I think Nate is more trying to get the Jake Pauls of the world or I don’t know who else he has on his plate – a lot bigger exposure than myself. MMA alone and just the MMA gods coming together in a real MMA fight, I think that’d be great for the hardcore fans, for the underground fans. The likelihood of it? It’d be more likely that I’d sign it than Nate would.”
