Roger Huerta vs. Eddie Alvarez At Bellator 33

Bellator Fighting Championships announced that due to an injury to season 2 lightweight tournament winner Pat Curran, Roger Huerta will no be facing BFC lightweight champ Eddie Alvarez on October 21 in a non-title bout. This fight is what Bellator had envisioned when they spent the money to sign Huerta and is likely the most “promotable” fight they can make.

Some fans have already began to complain that they feel it was not fair that Huerta (who lost in the semi-finals to Curran) is getting the spot rather than Toby Imada (who lost in the finals to Curran). I’d like to take a moment to address those concerns.

- Imada and Alvarez fought in the finals of the season one tournament for the lightweight title. Alvarez owned the fight and finished Imada early in round 2. Is there any reason to rehash this fight?

- Bellator is an upstart promotion looking to both establish their name and make enough money to continue to grow. Huerta vs. Alvarez is worth a lot more money than Imada vs. Alvarez 2. If the title isn’t on the line the promotion should absolutely take the steps they need to turn a profit.

- Some fans have taken the extra step of complaining about the title being devalued by not being defended. Something fans seem to not realize is that the Bellator title is a “tournament title.” The way the promotion has established the title is that it can not be competed for except by those who win one of the BFC tournaments.

This should be a very exciting fight between two guys who always bring it every single fight. Hopefully fans can just sit back and enjoy the ride.