Eddie Alvarez Taking Fight Public in Legal Suit with Bellator MMA: “The Gloves Are Off”

Lightweight free-agent Eddie Alvarez has gone public about his legal dispute with Bellator MMA.

Alvarez has been in a legal battle with the fight promotion after his contract expired in October.  He received an offer from the UFC and planned to sign with them, but Bellator invoked its right to match the deal.  Alvarez claims that the Viacom-owned Bellator didn’t truly match what the UFC presented and in came the lawyers.

Alvarez indicated on Thursday that there would be no settlement and the two parties would go to trial.

On Friday, the 29-year-old continued to publicly comment about the legal battle on Twitter, saying his beef is less with Bellator CEO Bjorn Rebney and more with Spike TV and Viacom.

“This is a lot less about Bjorn guys and a lot more about Viacom, I spoke with the higher ups and explained myself ,basically was told too bad,” he wrote.  “Bjorn only owns very little and I’m really not sure he has a say at all, I went over his head and spoke with his bosses, and here we are!”

Alvarez didn’t stop there.

“I might just dump just real (expletive) tonight until I get a call from someone to stop. Soooo much to talk about now that the gloves are off,” he wrote.  “I’d be more careful in what I said but I was told as long as I’m truthful then I can say whatever I want.”

He then made unconfirmed allegations about Bellator’s treatment of other fighters, including Cosmo Alexandre and Zach Makovsky.

“I am fortunate compared to guys like @CosmoAlexandre this guy trains day and night to feed his fam and Viacom/ spike continue to hurt him,” wrote Alvarez.  “His story of getting shafted might be worse than mine.”

“Not to mention how @ZachFunSize was bullied to take a smaller pay day than contextually agreed or just sit after being champ,” he added.  “I have nothing to complain about I get paid we’ll enough to keep bills paid but to bully guys like @ZachFunSize and @CosmoAlexandre is a sin.”

Alvarez is right about at least one thing, the gloves are definitely off.

Bellator representatives declined to comment on Alvarez’s allegations.