Recently rumored bout between top Lightweights JZ Calvacante and Eddie Alvarez appears to be off. Monte Cox, Alvarez's manager, posted on this on the Underground:

Dream called about this fight... I told them no. Eddie fights for Bellator.

The meaning of this is up for speculation. Alveraz did just take 3 fights in 3 months, winning the Bellator LW tournament and the $100,000 prize. It is a very real possibility that he simply wants a vacation. However, the wording from Cox implies that Eddie is going to exclusively fight for Bellator, and that Bellator plans to have enough cards to keep him busy, and that they are also willing to match his previous purses.

A matter of concern for both Alveraz and Bellator is the quality of opponents to challenge for his title. With DREAM and the UFC both having contracts of nearly all top 20 LWs, there could be a real problem with contendership. 

Edit: In an interview with MMAJunkie, Cox had this to say:

Also, Bellator owns the rights and probably won't allow their champ to fight elsewhere.

Why Cox would have a fighter under multiple contracts sign an exclusive one is anyone's guess, but it probably has something to do with the reason that he let Big Tim fight Ray Mercer two months before his Affliction bout.

MMA Live could be a great promotional tool for the sport and a conveniant way for ESPN to not have to cover it on SportsCenter. However, it hasn't matured enough to break away from its internet television status. This is mainly because it is unappealing to all but the most devote fans, and even they may find it a tad boring.

 

Here are some easy ways to improve the show:

Have Molly Qerim do something else

Cruncing Numbers and The Pulse both seem like filler, and that's because they are. They are so drawn out that Molly's hyperbole seems to bore even her. Molly is obviously not a hardcore fan, but she has some on-camera talent. An easy fit for her would be to have her do what Ariel Helwani has been doing for the WEC: going around and interviewing fighters. MMA Live's budget may not be huge, but they can start with fighters that are within driving distance of Connecticut, and then move out as ESPN embraces the show. Matt Serra is only a few hours drive away and gives entertaining interviews, so that would be a great start.

Bring back MMA for Dummies

While it's clear that Kenny wants to show how important nutrition is to the modern MMA fighter, MMA Round table is boring. This isn't a cooking show, it's an MMA show. There are enough events going on that they could easily take a submission from one each week and have Kenny/Frank Mir/Torres show how it is done. The inverted triangle would have be a great thing to demonstrate, especially since it just happened.

Be an impartial MMA news source

I'm mainly talking about MMA Live's current embrace of WAMMA and their rankings. WAMMA is not the impartial sanctioning body that it claims to be, and MMA Live should realize this. The real problem here is not that they are covering WAMMA's rankings and their "champions," but that they are failing to show the other side of the coin: that WAMMA uses its rankings and belts for its own gain.

Get on TV

The only way that MMA Live is going to reach more viewers is by graduating to television. Even if its time slot is 3AM and it's on the least popular ESPN channel, it will still get more views than it is getting now, especially from the non-hardcore fans.

Nix The 411

If a really big matchup has been announced, then it obviously needs to be mentioned. However, nobody really cares that Nick Cantone and Mark Munoz have been confirmed for UFC 102. Again, this follows the same line of thought as before, less filler and more original content.