Fans of Eddie Alvarez will have to wait a bit longer before seeing the Bellator Lightweight Champion in action as the promotion announced Tuesday that Alvarez has suffered an injury that will take him off the October 15th event in Atlantic City, NJ, Bellator 54. He was scheduled to defend his title against Michael Chandler.
The injury was undisclosed and there was no rescheduled date announced. In the release that Bellator put out, CEO Bjorn Rebney said that he’s hopeful the fight can still happen this fall.
On Twitter, Alvarez said the following:
After October 15, Bellator has five more Saturday events remaining in their fifth season, including a November 26th return date in Atlantic City, NJ, that might prove attractive for the Philadelphia, PA-based Alvarez.
Alvarez (22-2) is the only Bellator 155-pound champion in the promotion’s history, having won the title in June 2009. He’s only defended the title once in an April decision win over Pat Curran, but has wins over Roger Huerta and Josh Neer in non-title bouts.
Chandler (8-0) earned his shot by winning Bellator’s lightweight tournament earlier this year, taking a decision win over Patricky “Pitbull” Freire in the May finale.