Eddie Alvarez vs. Josh Neer set for Bellator FC

[keithlewis]

Bellator Fighting Championships announced today that its reigning lightweight champion, Eddie Alvarez, the No. 2-ranked lightweight in the world, will square off in a non-title “Super Fight” with UFC veteran Josh “The Dentist” Neer under the Bellator banner this May.

The fight is the first Super Fight matchup to be announced by Bellator, which is now gearing up for its much-anticipated nationally-televised second season. These non-tournament, non-title catch-weight fights will pit Bellator’s Season 1 Champions — Alvarez, Joe Soto, Lyman Good and Hector Lombard — against top competition as they prepare to defend their titles from Bellator’s Season 2 tournament winners this fall.

The Alvarez-Neer fight will take place during one of Bellator’s May events and will be televised live on FOX Sports Net and during Bellator highlight shows on NBC and Telemundo. The exact date will be announced in the coming weeks.

Alvarez, the Philadelphia native and Fight Factory product, has driven his 19-2 professional record to the No. 2 ranking in the world at lightweight. He dominated Bellator’s Season 1 tournament to take home the first-ever Bellator Lightweight Championship belt.

Neer, an Iowa native who is 27-9-1 over the course of his seven-year MMA career, is a three-time veteran of the UFC with signature wins over Melvin Guillard and TUF winners Joe Stevenson and Mac Danzig. Since his last UFC fight in October 2009, Neer is 2-0, with both wins coming via first-round stoppages.

“In addition to being one of the top lightweights on earth, Eddie’s a blast to watch fight,” said Bellator founder and CEO Bjorn Rebney. “Alvarez vs. Neer should produce fireworks from the start. Our hyper-competitive tournaments, May super-fights and September title-defense fights will all create some awesome nationally televised events.”

Alvarez, who underwent minor arthroscopic knee surgery on Jan. 13th, said he is itching to make his return to the cage against Neer.

“I’ve seen Josh Neer fight, and he’s a banger,” Alvarez said. “I love this fight because he never puts on a dull fight and those are the kinds of matches that suit me the best. I expect my knee to be 100 percent soon and I’m expecting that this is going to be my best performance ever.”

Neer said he also expects the fight to be an exciting one.

“This is definitely a tough fight because Alvarez is a really explosive fighter and one of the top two or three lightweights in the world,” Neer said. “I think that if I beat him, it would be a huge win for me and would really help me increase my notoriety. It’s a great opportunity.”

[ArmyofDarkness]

I DONT UNDERSTAND WHY EDDIE ISNT FIGHTING FOR THE UFC OR DREAM

[longlivemma]

I DONT UNDERSTAND WHY EDDIE ISNT FIGHTING FOR THE UFC OR DREAM

One Name: BJ Penn

Honestly I don't think there is a LW in the world that can touch BJ Penn right now.
Eddie is easily a top 5 LW in the world and Neer was, IMO, unnessessarily cut from the UFC. Neer is a tough
dude and a tough fight for anyone. I have a feeling though that Eddie will take him down and just pound on him. However, Neer has sub'd people off his back after getting beat on for the majority of the fight. Crazy fight, could be a canidate for fight of the year depending on how it turns out.

[NWOWolfpack]

One Name: BJ Penn

Honestly I don't think there is a LW in the world that can touch BJ Penn right now.
Eddie is easily a top 5 LW in the world and Neer was, IMO, unnessessarily cut from the UFC. Neer is a tough
dude and a tough fight for anyone. I have a feeling though that Eddie will take him down and just pound on him. However, Neer has sub'd people off his back after getting beat on for the majority of the fight. Crazy fight, could be a canidate for fight of the year depending on how it turns out.

Why don't you think Eddie could beat Penn?

Also, the Dentist is good but he did go 2-3 before they released him....................

[broncofan]

Penn vs. Alvarez actually makes sense.

[longlivemma]

One Name: BJ Penn

Honestly I don't think there is a LW in the world that can touch BJ Penn right now.
Eddie is easily a top 5 LW in the world and Neer was, IMO, unnessessarily cut from the UFC. Neer is a tough
dude and a tough fight for anyone. I have a feeling though that Eddie will take him down and just pound on him. However, Neer has sub'd people off his back after getting beat on for the majority of the fight. Crazy fight, could be a canidate for fight of the year depending on how it turns out.

Why don't you think Eddie could beat Penn?

Also, the Dentist is good but he did go 2-3 before they released him....................

Neer was dry humped in his last two losses. I'm a huge Pellegrino fan but my God...he was fighting to not lose that fight. I agree with the record he had and lossing 2 straight usually means you are out, but i thought he was a tough match up for a lot of people at 155. The same way he lost his last two is the reason i think he is about to lose against Alverez. Neer can't defend the takedown and Alverez is going to pound on him for 3 rounds.

I don't think there is anyone at 155 that can out box BJ Penn right now, nor do i think there is anyone that can take him down. Sherk couldn't take him down, Diego couldn't take him down, Edgar will not be able to take him down. HUghes at 170 struggled to get him down. Alverez wouldn't be able to take Penn down either.
I'm not saying it wouldn't be an awesome fight and Eddie couldn't win, because he could! He hits like a truck! I just think its almost impossible to beat against BJ Penn right now the way he is fighting.

I believe the UFC needs to get the top LW's not in the UFC to the UFC ASAP to keep BJ Penn on his toes and for the fans....because that would be amazing