After losing his Bellator title in a fight of the year candidate against Michael Chandler, Eddie Alvarez decided to skip this season's lightweight tournament so he could negotiate for a chance to redeem another loss - one against the popular Japanese champion, Shinya Aoki.

Alvarez will finally be getting his wish on April 20th, but this time, he'll be taking on the DREAM champion inside the Bellator cage. Sources close to the situation have informed BloodyElbow.com that bout agreements have been sent and Aoki has already put pen to paper, with Bellator expected to make the official announcement soon.

Their first encounter ended with a heel hook finish from Aoki in a little over a minute, although a lot has changed for both fighters since then. Shinya Aoki has moved his training camps to Singapore, and has shown significant improvements on his game after training with the world champions at Evolve MMA. Eddie Alvarez on the other hand, went on an impressive 7-fight win streak since signing with Bellator, winning their lightweight crown in the process.

He lost the title after Chandler pulled off a huge upset last November, but Alvarez believes he will get back on the horse and avenge a loss at the same time when he faces Aoki this April.