Former Bellator MMA Lightweight Champion Michael Chandler and former UFC/Bellator MMA Lightweight Champion Eddie Alvarez are both free agents at the moment.
Chandler doesn’t know where he’ll wind up fighting at next, but he would like to settle the score with Alvarez.
“I have a ton of respect for him as a fighter, and I just want to see the best for him,” Chandler told MMA Junkie. “If that means staying with the UFC, I hope he stays in the UFC. If that means coming to Bellator, I would love to welcome him to Bellator and finish that trilogy. There’s not a day that’s gone by recently since he announced that this last fight was the last fight on his contract, that people haven’t stopped talking about the trilogy. People are putting videos out there and asking the, ‘What-ifs’ and whatnot. I got a ton of respect for the guy. He fights for the right reasons, he fights like a dog and I’d love to share the cage with him again.”
It was Chandler who picked up the first win via submission at Bellator 58, while Alvarez won the rematch by decision at Bellator 106.
While Chandler does want a third opportunity to battle Alvarez, it does come from a place of respect.
“There’s not a guy that I respect in this sport more than Eddie Alvarez,” Chandler said. “When you share 50 minutes inside a cage – I’ve got a scar on my lip that he gave me, I’ve got another scar on my eyebrow that he gave me. I could look at myself in the mirror and say, ‘That’s from that guy, that’s from that guy.’ Eddie put it on me here and there. Being 1-1, me finishing him the first fight, him beating me in the second fight; Eddie’s just a warrior. He’s been Bellator champion, he’s been UFC champion. He’s been champion in every major organization in the entire world.”
Alvarez has yet to respond to the challenge from Chandler, but no bout will come close to being made until both fighters sign with an organization.
