Following Bellator’s 10th season premiere, Bjorn Rebney confirmed to reporters that the promotion are set to take another crack at the pay-per-view market with an event on May 17th.
Lightweight title rivals Eddie Alvarez and Michael Chandler will once again battle it out for possession of the belt for a third time in the main event of the show.
Bellator previously attempted a PPV show in November of last year with a high-profile bout between Quinton ‘Rampage’ Jackson and Tito Ortiz set as the headliner, but disaster struck when Ortiz pulled out at the last minute due to an injury and Bellator head to re-group, cancelling the pay-per-view and airing the rest of the show for free on Spike TV.
A second fight between Alvarez and Chandler, originally scheduled for the co-main event, was bumped up to main event status on that occasion and resulted in a ‘Fight Of The Year’ candidate performance as Alvarez reclaimed the title in a five round dog-fight that was watched by a peak of 1.4 million viewers on Spike TV – a record audience for Bellator.
While it’s not confirmed yet, it’s safe to assume that Friday night’s light-heavyweight tournament semi-final winners ‘Rampage’ and Muhammed ‘King Mo’ Lawal will now settle their difference in the co-main event of the new PPV event underather Alvarez Vs Chandler III.
If so, that’s a solid one-two punch from Bellator, though it remains to be seen whether it’ll be enough to get fans to part with their cash.
May’s already scheduled to be a busy month with the UFC set to host three events sandwiched around Bellator’s PPV offering:
UFC Fight Night: Cincinnati (May 10th), UFC 173: Weidman Vs Machida (May 24th) and UFC Fight Night: Sonnen Vs Silva.
