Eddie Alvarez promises courtroom trial in case against Bellator

Eddie Alvarez plans to fight Bellator to the finish in a courtroom.

The ex-Bellator lightweight champion on Thursday posted on Twitter that he won’t settle with the tournament-based promotion and wants a trial. 

“I want to see this thing through and Let the truth come out in the End,” wrote Alvarez (24-3). 

The announcement appears to extinguish the possibility of a settlement between the parties, who’ve been locked in a legal dispute for the past five months. Near the start of this year, Bellator and Alvarez, who became a limited free agent this past October, filed dueling lawsuits with the respective aim of keeping him in the promotional fold or releasing him to sign with the UFC, which offered him a deal during a matching period that’s now the at the core of the dispute. 

In January, a federal judge struck down Alvarez’s first attempt at freeing himself from Bellator, and this past month, the same judge denied Bellator’s request to drop part of Alvarez’s suit. However, it was also revealed that the two sides had signaled a willingness to enter settlement talks. 

But on Wednesday during an interview with MMAjunkie.com Radio (www.mmajunkie.com/radio), Bellator CEO Bjorn Rebney said those talks recently had broken down. He indicated a resolution was unlikely.

“The court system is slow and methodical, and we’re just going through the process,” he said. “I don’t have any projections of it getting settled at this point because we’re not talking.”

On Twitter, Alvarez talked plenty today, issuing no less than 15 tweets about his current lot. In addition to proclaiming his desire to see Bellator in court, he said he had renovated and sold an investment property originally planned as a retirement asset to support his family during the dispute. Additionally, he said they were moving to Florida, where he may become a permanent addition to the Jaco Hybrid Training Center gym in Boca Raton owned by his manager, Glenn Robinson.

Alvarez hasn’t fought since this past October, when he fulfilled the final obligation of his Bellator contract with a first-round knockout of Patricky “Pitbull” Freire. 

To combat rust from his lengthened layoff, Alvarez has a plan. 

“Ill be Training as if I have a fight No matter what the circumstances,” he posted on Twitter. “Miami has Unsanctioned fights somewhere for Cash, Told my wife I might need to take the drive down there on the Weekend 2 stay sharp.”

For more on Bellator’s upcoming schedule, stay tuned to the MMA Rumors section of the site.