Top 5 Stories of the Week

---

Eddie Alvarez’s legal battle with Bellator MMA has ended.

Bellator officials announced on Aug. 13 that the former lightweight champion will return to action on Nov. 2, when he rematches current 155-pound ruler Michael Chandler as part of the promotion’s inaugural pay-per-view at the Long Beach Convention Center in Long Beach, Calif.

Alvarez and Chandler first met in November 2011, with Chandler wresting the lightweight title from around the 29-year-old’s waist in a “Fight of the Year” nominee. Since that fourth-round submission loss, Alvarez has won back-to-back fights, knocking out Shinya Aoki before doing the same to Patricky Freire in October.

Following his win over “Pitbull,” Alvarez’s Bellator contract expired, and the lightweight fielded an offer from the Ultimate Fighting Championship. Bellator exercised its right to match the terms of the deal, but the two sides disagreed on whether Bellator’s new offer was of equal value to the UFC’s. The dispute resulted in both sides filing lawsuits, though the matter has now been settled.

Chandler, meanwhile, has never lost as a mixed martial artist, rattling off 12 straight victories to start his MMA career. Following his triumph over Alvarez, the 27-year-old conquered Japanese veteran Akihiro Gono in a non-title affair before defending his belt successfully against tournament winners Rick Hawn and David Rickels.

The stories of interest on Sherdog.com this week:

Differences Reconciled

Unifying Principals

Hard Time

A New Reality

Nine Months

Reader comments are active below.