Bellator

Bellator grants Eddie Alvarez early release, now officially a free agent

Nov 4, 2012 - 9:30:36 PM Bellator grants Eddie Alvarez early release, now officially a free agent

Eddie Alvarez is officially a free agent. As expected, Bellator Fighting Championships has granted him an early release, and will not hold him to their contracted matching period. Alvarez revealed the release in an interview with MMAInterviews.TV "That's not really up to me," Alvarez said when asked where he'd end up (transcribed by MMAMania.com . "I'm in between with my management and promotions. Bjorn Rebney was gracious enough to give us our release papers early, earlier than what we were contractually to get, he gave it to us Friday. So we're going to try to move it along as fast as possible for myself and for Bellator. We'll see.""Nothing's set in stone and I'm just waiting to see what happens, letting the management and letting the promotions do their job now."Alvarez has said in the past that he's looking to make a decision that makes the most sense for his family. That's meant not going to the UFC previously, but the UFC might give him the best offer this time around. The UFC has explicitly expressed interest in him, and Alvarez added in the interview that he's interested in fighting opponents above him in the rankings."I want to test myself against anyone, you know, anyone who's ahead of me," Alvarez said. "I don't know what I'm ranked in the rankings now but I know there are guys ahead of me and whoever I can fight that's ahead of me to up my stock and to prove my ability, they're the guys I'm looking to get after."I think we're getting closer to Alvarez in the UFC here, and though he still could make a wild card decision to go somewhere other than the UFC, he's an elite talent. He belongs on the UFC's roster, against a high level of competition consistently. Whether it's in the lightweight division, or if he decides to try things out at featherweight, he can compete with the best, and should get that chance. It will be up to the UFC to offer him a competitive contract, and up to him to sign on, but it's that much closer to being a reality with this news.[Eddie Alvarez photo (c) Henry Dziekan III]-Follow Us on Twitter: CLICK HERE -Like Us on Facebook: CLICK HERE -Listen to our Weekly Podcast: CLICK HERE -Subscribe to our Podcast in iTunes: CLICK HERE -Get our Free iPhone App: CLICK HERE -Get our Free Amazon Kindle App: CLICK HERE -Get our Free Android App: CLICK HERE