Sherdog’s Top 10: Longest Bellator MMA Title Reigns

5. Eddie Alvarez

When Alvarez signed on Bellator’s dotted line, it was viewed as something as a coup for the fledgling promotion. The Philadelphia native entered the Season 1 lightweight tournament in 2009 as a prohibitive favorite and did not disappoint, stringing together submissions against Greg Loughran, Eric Reynolds and Toby Imada to become the organization’s inaugural champion at 155 pounds. Victories over Katsunori Kikuno, Josh Neer and Roger Huerta followed before he put the title on the line against Pat Curran at Bellator 39 on April 2, 2011. Alvarez passed a stern test against the upstart, outpointing him across five rounds to retain his championship. A little more than seven months later, he was paired with Michael Chandler in one of the best fights in Bellator history. The grueling back-and-forth battle ended with Alvarez submitting to a rear-naked choke in the fourth round at the Seminole Hard Rock Hotel and Casino in Hollywood, Florida, his reign over at 883 days.

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