Bellator Fighting Championships has announced a blockbuster lightweight bout for their upcoming second season. Bellator Lightweight Champion and former DREAM and BodogFIGHT star Eddie Alvarez will battle UFC veteran Josh “The Dentist” Neer at a Bellator event in May.
The lightweight clash will be a non-title affair, but a victory for Neer would certainly set up a rematch for Alvarez’s championship belt. Bellator will hold eight-man tournaments during its second season in the featherweight, lightweight, welterweight and middleweight divisions.
Alvarez (19-2-0) held the BodogFIGHT Welterweight Championship until a 2007 loss to Nick “The Goat” Thompson and he has lost just one time since dropping down to the lightweight division. He advanced to the final of the 2008 DREAM Lightweight Grand Prix, but was forced to withdraw from the final bout due to injury.
Alvarez captured the Bellator Lightweight Championship last year with a trio of submission victories and he picked up his fourth straight submission win when he stopped Katsunori Kikuno at Dream.12. Once regarded as a striker only, Alvarez has worked hard to develop his ground game. He has only been to a decision twice in his entire career.
Neer (27-9-1) won 13 of his first 15 fights and debuted for the UFC in 2005. He came up short in his Octagon debut, but became a fan favourite five months later with his dramatic come-from-behind win over “The Young Assassin” Melvin Guillard. Neer posted a 4-6 record in the UFC and holds wins over former title challenger Joe “Daddy” Stevenson, Din “Dinyero” Thomas and TUF 6 winner Mac Danzig.
Having rebounded with a pair of 2010 victories since leaving the UFC, Neer will look to position himself for a shot at the Bellator Lightweight Championship. The heavy-handed brawler holds 23 wins by stoppage and has only been knocked out one time in his 37-fight career.
An exact date for the lightweight bout has not yet been announced, but Bellator has confirmed that the fight will take place in May.
(Photo Credit: Sherdog.com)