Tonight’s Bellator 120 PPV is going to have a huge hole in the main event which will be missed by everyone who orders it: the much-anticipated third fight between Michael Chandler and Eddie Alvarez. After two great showings when the two were previously paired together, this fight was perhaps the very best fight that the promotion could offer its fan base. Unfortunately, an injury has forced Alvarez off the card and opened up an opportunity for Will Brooks to come in and play the spoiler. But regardless of who wins the bout, the ramifications of this injury and the subsequent replacement bout could truly shake the organization to its core.
Bellator MMA is currently considered the second most important promotion in the sport. Even though World Series of Fighting is surging, it doesn’t have the same level of exposure that Bellator has worked to obtain during the last few years. This card was promoted by ESPN and received coverage that other events had not. Even though Chandler, Alvarez, and now Brooks were not included in much of that coverage, the fact remains that more attention will be paid to tonight’s PPV than the organization’s normal Friday night cards. So what happens if this show ends up flopping due to Alvarez not squaring off against his greatest rival?
First off, need only look at Will Brooks and the style matchup he presents in this fight to conclude that it is unlikely that this fight will live up to the lofty expectations of the Alvarez-Chandler rubber match. Even though he’s 13-1, many observers consider him to still be very green in the sport. Furthermore, his ability to control fights through wrestling doesn’t make for the most exciting fights, exactly what Bellator doesn’t need at this point in time. Chandler has the skill set to nullify nearly any takedown attempt that Brooks can offer, but Brooks’ style is completely different from what Chandler was expecting to face in the multifaceted game that Alvarez brings to the cage. Bellator could not have wanted to put one of its “wrestle-first” fighters in such a high-profile spot, as Brooks, while a very capable fighter, is limited in such a way that he could turn fans away with a performance that doesn’t live up to the high standard that the first two Alvarez-Chandler matchups set.
Another issue for Bellator is what happens when Alvarez is ready to return. After a long and arduous legal dispute with the fighter who played perhaps the biggest role in the early stages of the organization’s growth, Alvarez was presented with a contract that ensured he would receive some form of financial incentive for performing on PPV. However, if Bellator 120 doesn’t perform well, there’s no guarantee that the promotion will get another opportunity to place its product on pay-per view. Does that mean that Alvarez would then be allowed to walk away from the promotion and leave it with a nearly worthless title? Or would Bellator have to further compensate the current lightweight champion?
In the event that Bellator abandons PPV ambitions, Alvarez will walk out of the situation in the best position possible, regardless of what option the promotion chooses. Since he is the champion, he has most of the leverage in this negotiation. Yes, Bellator could release him with the belt, the way Ben Askren and Hector Lombard were allowed to leave even though they were holding the organizations welterweight and middleweight titles. But like Lombard, that situation would benefit Alvarez financially, because he would have additional bargaining power with the UFC, which is where he’s made it clear he wants to fight. He could also attempt to force them to pay him the equivalent of a PPV bonus in a settlement payout, in order for him to headline a Saturday night show with Alvarez-Chandler 3 as the main event, much like Alvarez-Chandler 2 was. Either way, the result is that Eddie Alvarez will have a chance to reap great financial rewards from being missing in action at Bellator 120.
Even before the Alvarez injury, fans and media members were skeptical of Bellator’s pay-per-view debut. While the organization worked hard to put together the type of card that could attract buyers, most were still estimating a buyrate under 100K. But the moment that Eddie Alvarez was removed from the card, the whole perception of the event changed. Now the organization is leaning heavily on “King” Mo Lawal vs. Quinton “Rampage” Jackson and Tito Ortiz vs. Alexander Shlemenko to keep this card from being considered an absolute disaster. If they can’t, then expect consequences that will have a long term effect on the company. All of this simply because one fighter was missing from the top of the billing.
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Bellator 120: Rampage vs. King Mo (formerly Bellator 120: Alvarez vs. Chandler III) takes place on May 17, 2014 at The Landers Center in Memphis, Tennessee.
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