The gruelling legal battle continues between Bellator Fighting Championships and former Bellator Lightweight Champion Eddie Alvarez (24-3) with any potential settlement between the two parties having reportedly hit a wall.
“I had hope a month ago there was a door opening,” Bjorn Rebney (Bellator CEO) said to MMA Junkie. “But that door isn’t open at this point. So I don’t know. The court system is slow and methodical, and we’re just going through the process. I don’t have any projections of it getting settled at this point because we’re not talking. The essence of it is, the promoter is never going to get everything he wants and the fighter is never going to get everything he wants. We have a position that we did everything right legally, and the court has supported us. I thought we were headed down a road (to resolution), and then everything went real dark.”
On the other side, Alvarez gave updates of his own via Twitter, confirming there will be no settlement while also revealing the extent of the financial effort required for the legal process, as he is currently unable to compete.
“Sorry I been absent lately guys,” he wrote. “Here are some updates, I recently just sold an investment property in order to wait this trial thing out. I didn’t want to sell, it was supposed to be a retirement thing but that’s how s–t goes, very happy it’s sold and I’m packing now. I am taking the funds from the sale of the home and moving to Florida [with] me and my family, I leave in a few days to search out a rental. I’ll be training as if I have a fight no matter what the circumstances.
“We will be going to trial and there will be NO settlement,” Alvarez continued. “I want to see this thing through and let the truth come out in the end. I needed time to renovate and sell my home anyway in order to move to Florida, so this may have come as a blessing. My goal is to move to Florida, train with the best team and coaches in the world, beat this court case, become No. 1 in the world and keep it. I am in no hurry. This has always been a marathon for me, not a sprint, and time will only make me more dangerous when I fight, I promise.
“Since 18 I have fought at least every roughly 5 months so I have been learning a lot from this break. Thank you guys for [your] support. Every tweet positive or negative does help!! This is just a pit stop that’s put there for a reason,” Alvarez finished, before adding, “Miami has unsanctioned fights somewhere for cash. Told my wife I might need to take the drive down there on the weekend [to] stay sharp.”
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