Bellator Fighting Championships lightweight champion
Eddie Alvarez will meet UFC veteran
Roger Huerta in a non-title super fight at Bellator 33 on Oct. 21 at the Liacouras Center in Philadelphia. The promotion on Monday announced the site for the long-awaited matchup.
Alvarez was originally scheduled to meet 2010 Bellator lightweight tournament winner
Pat Curran in a five-round title bout, but an injury to the challenger forced the change. Bellator CEO Bjorn Rebney indicated Curran would fight for the belt once he recovered, perhaps in early 2011.
A Philadelphia native, Alvarez has delivered 18 of his 20 victories by knockout, technical knockout or submission. The 26-year-old, who has tasted defeat only once as a lightweight, will carry a five-fight winning streak into the match. Alvarez last appeared at Bellator 17 in May, when he choked
Josh Neer unconscious with a second-round rear-naked choke. A finalist in the 2008 Dream lightweight grand prix, he counts victories against reigning Deep lightweight champion
Katsunori Kikuno, former Dream lightweight titleholder
Joachim Hansen and UFC veterans
Aaron Riley and
Derrick Noble among his 20 career conquests.
“This is a dream fight for me,” Alvarez said in a release. “I’ve never even lost a fight here in the United States, so I’m definitely not going to start in my hometown of Philadelphia with all of my people there. That's not going to happen; not a chance. I’m not going to be happy unless I completely control and dominate Roger in this fight. It’s important for me to go in there and dominate this fight and prove that I’m one of the best lightweights in the world.”
Huerta, a loser in three of his past four fights, has not competed since he dropped a unanimous decision to Curran at Bellator 17 three months ago. Finished only once -- by former International Fight League lightweight champion
Ryan Schultz -- in 27 professional appearances, the 27-year-old Huerta owns notable victories against UFC veterans
Clay Guida,
Matt Wiman,
Brad Blackburn and
Naoyuki Kotani, along with former Brazilian jiu-jitsu world champion
Alberto Crane.
“This is a fight that I’ve always wanted,” Huerta said. “It’s going to be a grueling fight for the both of us. It’s going to be a potential ‘Fight of the year.’ I’m going in there expecting a war, and I’m going in there trying to finish Eddie.”
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