With his loss to Michael Chandler in the rear-view mirror, former Bellator Lightweight Champion Eddie Alvarez finds himself on the open market as one of the hottest commodities in MMA today. The Philadelphia native is coming off back-to-back knockout wins over Shinya Aoki and Patricky Freire. Alvarez, who’s been with Bellator since its onset, has ostensibly developed such a rapport with the promotion that CEO Bjorn Rebney claims that if the Blackzilian member opts to not re-sign, he will forego the contracted matching period to not hold him back.

“Based on our relationship with Ed, there’s no reason to hold him to a series of months of not having the opportunity to look at those offers,” said Rebney to MMA Junkie. Alvarez has been offered a very lucrative contract, that comes with cross-platform “entertainment themed alternatives”, similar to that of “King Mo” Lawal, who is competing in both Bellator and the Viacom owned professional wrestling promotion, TNA. However, the UFC has very publicly expressed interest in Alvarez, therefore if he chooses to head to the octagon, he will be free to do so immediately.