Eddie Alvarez was pleased with his choice to join with ONE Championship; nevertheless, as the time on his contract — and in his career — draws to a close, the former lightweight champion of the UFC decided to work toward an amicable departure from the company.
Alvarez only just disclosed that he and ONE Championship were able to achieve exactly that, but he wasn’t precise as to the purpose for it until now when he said on the edition of The MMA Hour that aired on Wednesday that he wants to finish off his career in his native country.
“The contract was about to expire, and I had a conversation with my agent, during which I shared with him that ‘I would prefer my career to come to a close in the United States.’
We First Teamed Up With ONE
And when we first got together with ONE, the plan was that they would gradually migrate to the United States,” Alvarez remarked on The MMA Hour.”
The goal was to have bouts in Asia, and then my thought in my brain was that I would start in Asia, and then towards the conclusion of my contract, we would come closer to the United States, and finally have a fight there,” he said. “The objective was to have fought in Asia.”
Unfortunately, the pandemic derailed all of those preparations and significantly slowed down the work that was being made toward that goal.
Alvarez continued by saying, “I’m going to more than likely be signing my final contract, and I simply want to be fighting here in the United States.” “I genuinely want to fight in the United States, and I need to do so to end my career in this country.”
After suffering a knockout defeat to Dustin Poirier in the second round of their match at UFC on FOX 30 in July 2018, “The Underground King” announced his retirement from the Ultimate Fighting Championship.
Alvarez And Bjorn Rebney Had a Very Public Argument
Before that, Alvarez was involved in a very public spat with Bjorn Rebney, who was once the head of Bellator.
Alvarez claims that his connection with ONE has not been damaged in any way and that no bridges have been burnt. Alvarez provided an explanation that said, “One hundred percent [we are on good terms].”
“I’ve only been involved in one nasty breakup with one corporation, and it was made public. Everyone was aware of what had happened. I don’t care what it takes, but I never want to be involved in anything like that again.
Since that time, I have never done it, and I doubt that I ever will. I’m an adult. I am familiar with both the sport and the industry.
I always make it a point to contribute something worthwhile to the events that I attend. Those with whom I make agreements are aware of this fact. Except for that one promotion, I’ve never really had a motive to get into a fight with anybody.”
According to Alvarez, he is scheduled to meet with “all of the top personalities” in the boxing world in early October to discuss potential promotion opportunities.
This meeting schedule was provided to us by Alvarez. The 38-year-old Alvarez has not closed the door on the possibility of signing with the PFL, which is one of the organizations that seem to be the favorite in the MMA world.
Alvarez Would Want to Return to the U.S
This is something that Alvarez would be open to, most especially since he likes the season format. Alvarez would be more than glad to return to the two organizations in the United States, the UFC and Bellator, that he helped promote, and vice versa.
While that would be a new coat of paint in terms of his professional résumé, Alvarez would also be more than happy to return to the UFC. “Yes,” was Alvarez’s response when asked whether he would consider returning to the UFC.
“Yeah [if I had the chance, I would return to Bellator]. My divorce was a nasty one, but it wasn’t with Scott Coker; it was with Bjorn Rebney.
I was set free thanks to Scott Coker. My problem has never been with the company’s name; rather, I disagreed with the president, and that president was ultimately let go.
But as long as there are huge conflicts going on and big people connected in that organization, I will most likely say yes and leave my options open.
