Eddie Alvarez Out of Title Fight at Bellator 54 (via mmafighting.com)

Bellator lightweight champion Eddie Alvarez has suffered an injury that will prevent him from his scheduled title defense against Michael Chandler at Bellator 54 on Oct. 15 in Atlantic City, N.J.

Bellator says the fight will be rescheduled and possibly for later in the season.

"Eddie Alvarez has a huge heart and if there was any way for him to fight on the 15th, I know he would," Bellator CEO Bjorn Rebney said in a statement. "Ed's in spectacular condition, so both of us are hopeful that this fight can potentially still occur later this fall."

Alvarez (22-2), who has won seven straight fights, competed once this year, making a successful title defense against Pat Curran at Bellator 39 in April. Chandler (8-0) earned his shot against Alvarez by beating Patricky Freire at Bellator 44 in May to win the season four lightweight tournament.

At the Bellator 54 event, bantamweight champion Zack Makovsky will remain on the card in a non-title fight against UFC veteran Ryan Roberts. In tournament action will be the two middleweight semifinals between Alexander Shlemenko vs. Brian Rogers and Bryan Baker vs. Vitor Vianna.

Credit: Ray Hui 

Posted in: Bellator,Eddie Alvarez