For lightweight titleholder Eddie Alvarez, it's a chance to fight in his hometown against a relatively big name. For Roger Huerta, it's a chance to turn a jumpstart a flagging career. For Bellator Fighting Championships, it's a chance to showcase the company's two best-known competitors. Alvarez (20-2) is scheduled to face Huerta (21-4-1, 1 no contest) tonight (FSN, check local listings) at Bellator 33 in Philadelphia. Both men bring a measure of cachet to the cage.

The champion made a name for himself two years ago in the Japanese promotion Dream and broke into the top five on many lightweight rankings. Last year he pounded through Bellator's inaugural lightweight tournament to become the company first lightweight champion. He's currently No. 6 in the USA TODAY/SB Nation consensus rankings.

Huerta shot to prominence in 2007 when he become the first mixed martial artist featured on the cover of Sports Illustrated. He compiled a 16-fight unbeaten streak and found himself within one fight of a UFC title shot.

He left UFC after losing two in a row and entered Bellator with fanfare and expectations that he would win the Season 2 tournament to set up a showdown with Alvarez. Instead, Huerta lost in the semifinals to unheralded fighter Pat Curran, who eventually won the entire tourney.

Curran suffered a training injury for tonight's bout and Huerta stepped in as a replacement. Alvarez's title won't be on the line, because the first crack at the belt remains Curran's. But taking out a top-six fighter in Alvarez would rejuvenate the career of Huerta after three defeats in four bouts.

Tonight's card includes the first title defense of Bellator welterweight champion Lyman Good (10-0), who faces hotshot up-and-comer Ben "Funky" Askren (6-0). Online sportsbooks list the challenger as a heavy favorite. Good has been out since June 2009 because of injuries, while Askren easily dispatched Ryan Thomas and Dan Hornbuckle to win Bellator's spring tournament for welterweights.

Good also lacks much experience in wrestling, which could mean a long night for him as he tries to fend off the takedowns of Askren, a two-time NCAA Division I champion who finished fourth at the 2008 Olympics in freestyle wrestling at 163 pounds. Also scheduled for the Philadelphia show: Former EliteXC champion Wilson Reis faces IFL and WEC veteran Deividas Taurosevicius; another Olympian, judoka Rick Hawn, makes his Bellator debut against LeVon Maynard.

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