Great Expectations : Is Eddie Alvarez the best Lightweight in the World?

Heading into Bellator 39 this Saturday,  Eddie Alvarez stands alone in the 155 lb. ranks for the promotion.  Since dropping to 155 after is loss to Nick Thompson at BodogFight : Clash of Nations in 2007,  The Philadelphia native has indeed been on a tear, winning 11 of 12 fights (The lone loss coming to Shinya Aoki for the WAMMA lightweight title at Dynamite!! in 2008). 

So much so,  that he's earned high praise from Bellator founder and CEO Bjorn Rebney,  who has on numerous occasions dubbed Alvarez the best 155'er in the world.  Dana White refuted those comments, saying if he was he'd have to come to the UFC to prove it.

So, who's right? Is Alvarez the best Lightweight in the world?
Right now, with the 155 lb. landscape ever evolving with longtime kingpin BJ Penn out (moving up to Welterweight again) and a plethora of fights that were available to Alvarez just months ago now gone (UFC buying Strikeforce and the disaster in Japan) it would only make sense that he would no doubt have to make that choice in the coming future.

With fighters like Anthony Pettis, Clay Guida,  Gray Maynard and Frankie Edgar in the 155 lb. division in  the UFC,  (plus lightweight champion Gilbert Milendez in Strikeforce) it might only be a matter of when, not if Alvarez decides to jump ship and leave Bellator in the dust. Mind you, there are a few intriguing matchups left for the American in Bellator (Patricio "Pitbull" and the man he's fighting on Saturday, Pat Curran, plus veteran Toby Imada, just to name 3)  but the casual fan doesn't stay home to watch an event like Bellator (150,000 viewers last week off a peak of almost a quarter million 2 weeks ago).  Plus, we all know Dana White's philosophy on co-promotion....There is none.

And if you're looking for something out of the "Fedor" factor (i.e. the media hyping it up),  it will be hard pressing for Alvarez to find opponents after all is said and done with the UFC folding in Strikeforce.  Plus, I believe unlike Emelianenko, Alvarez won't stay loyal to Rebney as "The Last Emperor" did to M-1 and Vadim Finklestein (Why that is is anybody's guess).


So while Alvarez stays in Bellator,  His status as the best lightweight is under question.  He might be, however, the best lightweight you've never heard of. 


-In other news,  First episode of "Ultimate Fighter" season 13 debuted last night amidst much hype surrounding Brock Lesnar's coaching gig.  Didn't start out well for the former UFC heavyweight champion as his fighter lost to Dos Santos' #1 pick.  Fortunately for him, his fighter was the last pick he chose.
- Thiago "The Beast" Silva (you know what? that's a great nickname for him.  I think I'll call him "The beast" because that's what he is, both literally and figuratively), has admitted to switching a fake urine sample, as reported by MMAJunkie.   He says he will accept whatever punishment the Nevada State Athletic Commission is willing to give him.  Why the hell he decided to cheat against Brandon Vera, of all people is anybody's guess.  I mean, I might have understood against Lyoto Machida, but....Brandon Vera? I'm sure you don't need to cheat against a guy who was 3-5 in his last 8 fights going into the fight. 
-Bjorn Rebney has also said in an interview via MMAJunkie he's not concerned about the drop in ratings for his brand. He's said that last week's Richard Hale "Toby Imada"  impression has gone on to generate 140,000+ hits on Youtube, and goes on to describe the next month or so of fights as "Blistering".  Of course, he fails to mention the fact the NCAA Basketball tournament has been on the last 2 weekends, as well as the UFC streaming fights live on Facebook for Ultimate Fight Night 24.

Until next time, fight fans.