UFC signs lightweight Eddie Alvarez shortly after release from Bellator

Mixed martial artist Eddie Alvarez spent so much of the past two years fighting with his former employer to get out of his contract that his career almost felt like it was in a holding pattern.

But everything changed Tuesday when Bellator Fighting Championships allowed the lightweight to become a free agent in the morning and the Ultimate Fighting Championship announced his signing in the afternoon.

“It’s been like a roller coaster,” Alvarez said by phone. “It’s like I was shot in the sky. It’s crazy. One thing happened and the next thing, you know. It’s zero to 100 real quick. That’s how it’s been.”

Alvarez will fight Donald “Cowboy” Cerrone in the co-main event of UFC 178 on Sept. 27 at the MGM Grand Garden. Rumors of the bout surfaced about a month ago, but the UFC instead announced last week that Cerrone would fight Bobby Green when it appeared Alvarez’s contract situation would not be resolved in time.

The process certainly wasn’t simple.

Alvarez, 30, thought he had reached an agreement to fight in the UFC in late 2012 when Bellator announced it had waived its exclusive negotiating period at the end of his contract.

Former Bellator CEO Bjorn Rebney then announced the organization would match the UFC’s offer. The matter wound up in court when Alvarez’s legal team argued Bellator’s deal didn’t match the UFC’s contract because of pay-per-view shares and other discrepancies.

A settlement was reached last August between the parties, calling for Alvarez to fight two more times for Bellator. He defeated Michael Chandler for the lightweight title in November, but was forced to pull out of a title defense against Chandler in May after suffering a concussion during training camp.

The biggest break for Alvarez probably came when Scott Coker took over Bellator after Rebney was ousted. Coker tried to smooth things over with Alvarez, perhaps the organization’s biggest commodity, but the bridges had been burned.

Alvarez credited Coker with taking the company in the right direction.

“I just think it’s a testament to where Bellator wants to go in its future,” he said. “They want to make long-term decisions and do things a little better. I credit them for that, and it just shows they’re under good leadership now. I tip my hat to them, and I’m ready to move on.”

Once he was free, the deal with the UFC came together quickly.

The Philadelphia native is 25-3 in more than a decade in the sport. He avenged two of his losses by winning rematches over Chandler and Shinya Aoki. Alvarez widely has been considered the best 155-pound fighter outside the UFC for several years.

A major reason he exerted so much effort getting to the UFC, despite a theoretically competitive financial package from Bellator, was to prove he is worthy of the accolades.

“Regardless of my record and who I was able to put away, I was never put in that No. 1 spot in the world as a lightweight,” Alvarez said. “It’s frustrating. I watch these fights in my division in the UFC and I bite my lip and think, ‘Damn, I can beat that guy.’ Now is the time where I have the opportunity to move up and become No. 1 by beating these guys, and I’m going to do just that.”

Alvarez thinks the fight against Cerrone is the ideal way to introduce himself to a fan base that may not have seen many of his fights.

“I love the matchup. He’s a fan-friendly fighter, and so am I,” Alvarez said. “We have some of the top finishing ratios in the entire sport, and this fight statistically will not go to decision. It just can’t.”

Green now will fight on a future card.

Contact reporter Adam Hill at ahill@reviewjournal.com or 702-224-5509. Follow him on Twitter: @adamhilllvrj.