Coker: We would love to talk with Alvarez, when he’s truly a free agent
Scott Coker: “If he wants to reach out and have a conversation and he’s truly a free agent and we’re not interfering in anybody’s contract, we would love to talk to him.”
UFC fighters characteristically negotiate a new contract before their final fight. Eddie Alvarez didn’t. His fight Saturday night vs. Dustin Poirier in the main event of UFC on FOX 30 was the last on his contact, and now he is trying free agency. Alvarez lost, and there is typically a window during which the UFC has an exclusive negotiation period, but during a recent appearance on The MMA Hour, Bellator president Scott Coker expressed interest.
Alvarez won the inaugural Bellator lightweight champion on June 19, 2009. He lost the belt to Michael Chandler in an insanely great fight at Bellator 58 on November 19, 2011. And then he regained the belt with a Split Decision win over Chandler at Bellator 106 on November 2, 2013. Then Alvarez moved to the UFC, vacating the title.
The fighter engaged in a feud with Bellator at the time, but the promotion was run then by founder Bjorn Rebney, who was taking time off from his day job as Lord Voldemort. Bellator is now in kinder, gentler hands – Coker is Superman to Rebney’s Lex Luthor. So the past legal issues should not be an issue.
I don’t think we’ve talked to Eddie, but listen, if he wants to reach out and have a conversation and he’s truly a free agent and we’re not interfering in anybody’s contract, we would love to talk to him, said Coker, as transcribed by Marc Raimondi for MMA Fighting. I think the guy has done a lot of good work in building his brand here in the U.S.
Obviously, he’s had some great fights with Michael Chandler here in the past. We want to talk to every free agent out there that’s a big star, and I think Eddie is still a big star.
There’s somebody here, there’s somebody there. It’s not like there’s hundreds or even 10s and 20s of athletes. It’s more of, there’s a big star here or a big star here or a medium star there. But they’re out there and we’ve been plucking them away one by one. And we’re gonna keep shopping and we’re gonna keep growing this roster.
This roster looks nothing like it did four years ago. It’s a much different fight roster than we had. It’s something we’re proud of and it’s not easy to do. But I think we’ve got a good handle on it.
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