Eddie Alvarez won the Bellator MMA lightweight title on November 2, 2013, taking a Split Decision over Michael Chandler. Then Alvarez moved to the UFC.
His first fight was a loss to Donald ‘Cowboy’ Cerrone. Since then he beat Gilbert Melendez via Split Decision, Anthony Pettis via Split Decision, and knocked out Rafael dos Anjos to win the UFC lightweight championship.
When Alvarez left Bellator, Chandler and ‘Ill’ Will Brooks fought for the Interim title on May 17, 2014, with Brooks taking a Split Decision. In the rematch on November 15, Brooks KOed Chandler in the fourth. Brooks then successfully defended his defended his Bellator title twice, before moving to the UFC.
Brooks debuted in the UFC Friday night, taking a tough, unanimous decision over Ross Pearson.
Afterwards, Brooks expressed happiness for his fellow former Bellator lightweight champion, and wants to fight him.
I’m a guy who wants the best for everybody, regardless if you fight in my weight class, said Brooks, as transcribed by MMAjunkie. I get so excited for people when they accomplish their goals and things like that. So to see him get out there and accomplish his goal that he set for himself, of course, you get excited for that. It’s a positive thing.
Brooks also described his fight with Pearson.
“I feel pretty good overall,” said Brooks, as transcribed by Tristen Critchfield for Sherdog. “There was more I wanted to do, but I only had three weeks to prepare, so did the best I could. I’m happy, I’ll get better. I had a nagging thumb injury. I jammed my thumb during training and jammed it again during the fight. Fighting tonight was an incredible experience. I had a lot of fun with it. But now it’s time to move forward and get on track to fight for that UFC gold.
It was amazing. It took a little bit to get loose. You feel the vibrations from the crowd in the cage. You’re trying to block out some of the noise. You look down and see the UFC logo, you’re like, ‘Man, alright, I got to get to work.’ But it was amazing, man.
It’s been a long time coming. There’s been a lot of sacrifice on my part, my family, my coaches. It’s just been a hell of a ride. This is just the beginning of my journey in the UFC.
Eddie Alvarez, hold on to that belt for a little bit. You got away from me in the other organization. I’m here now. I want to take that.
