Report: Dana White In Philly To Negotiate New Deal With Eddie Alvarez
Former UFC lightweight champion Eddie Alvarez appears to be getting closer to what he wants.
That’s a new contract with the Las-Vegas based promotion. It’s been well documented that the UFC wants to get Alvarez back inside of the octagon soon, but Alvarez has stated he won’t be doing that without a new deal.
It’s also been reported that UFC President Dana White has been working on a lightweight showdown that would see the former champion take on top contender Dustin Poirier at the upcoming UFC on FOX 30 event, which is set to take place on July 28 at the Scotiabank Saddledome in Calgary.
However, the one problem that has been in the way of this bout being finalized is the fact that Alvarez is on the last fight of his current contract with the promotion and wants a new deal before he fights again, which is understandable.
This leads us to White flying to Philadelphia on Saturday to watch the Boston Celtics beat the 76ers 101-98 in the third game of the NBA semifinals. He sent out this tweet before the game:
When in Philly @GenosSteaks then we watch the @celtics take game 3!!!! #celticsvs76ers pic.twitter.com/5BTxV6qewA
— danawhite (@danawhite) May 5, 2018
What’s interesting is that not only did he go to the game while he was in the city, he reportedly met with the former champion, according to ESPN’s Brett Okamoto, to negotiate a new deal with him:
In addition to attending the Celtics game in Philly today, I’m told White met with Eddie Alvarez about his UFC contract. No update to report at this time, other than they took that step to meet up in person. https://t.co/l5NWgNtkhP
— Brett Okamoto (@bokamotoESPN) May 6, 2018
Alvarez and Poirier’s first fight took place at UFC 211 last May that resulted in a no contest.
It should be noted that Okamoto came out with a recent report that stated Alvarez called the initial offer “low” from the UFC. Hopefully, the promotion can reach a deal with the former champion that both sides are happy with:
As a reminder, here’s what Eddie Alvarez (@Ealvarezfight) told me earlier this month about his contract situation. Expressed optimism it would all work out. pic.twitter.com/dA3ISAHdBB
— Brett Okamoto (@bokamotoESPN) May 1, 2018