Ahead of his May 17 rubber match with Bellator lightweight champion Eddie Alvarez, former champ Michael Chandler says he’s learned his lesson going the distance with fickle MMA judging.
“I’m going to continue to come forward. That’s what I do.” Chandler told Sherdog. “Eddie is going to continue to try to be slick and use his footwork, but I will get my hands on him and I will finish this fight. That’s my goal. I think I continue to prove to everybody that if you leave it in the hands of judges anything can happen. Bad things can happen.”
At the conclusion of the pair’s November rematch at Bellator 106, Chandler saw his 12-0 unbeaten streak vanish as the judges awarded Alvarez the split decision victory. The five-round epic was another instant classic, more than living up to their first meeting back in 2011.
“I wouldn’t say ‘wronged.’ I’m not going to sit here and have that victim mentality of, ‘Oh, I won the fight and they took it from me. They took what was mine. Blah blah blah.’ I didn’t consciously make the choice, but by not finishing the fight I gave [the judges] the opportunity to give the fight to Eddie.”
Believing he’d earned the nod, Chandler says he wasn’t the only one surprised when the scores were read.
“I think Eddie didn’t believe he won the fight. I think his coaches didn’t believe he won the fight. I think his family there in the stands didn’t believe he won the fight. You could tell by everyone’s reaction. His coaches told him he had to finish me going into that fifth round so they believed he was down on the scorecards.”
Eddie Alvarez defends his lightweight title to Michael Chandler May 17 at Bellator 120: Alvarez vs. Chandler III live on pay-per-view.
5 MUST-READ STORIES
‘Not interested whatsoever.’ Dana White says the UFC is no longer working on bringing undefeated Holly Holm into the fold.
Bang. Duane Ludwig is leaving Team Alpha Male to focus on building his own business.
Chat Wrap. Luke Thomas gives us a UFC 171 recap, talks PPV buy rates and discusses Joe Rogan’s commentary of Tyron Woodley in this week’s live chat.
UFC 171 injuries. We’ve now got word that Johny Hendricks suffered a torn bicep at UFC 171 while Carlos Condit left the event with a torn ACL.
Buys. The ladies lead the way as UFC 170 looks to have outsold UFC 169 by over 100K buys.
MEDIA STEW
Johny Hendricks on UFC Tonight. “Robbie was harder, because Robbie has power.”
The pro’s pick Dan Henderson vs. Mauricio Rua.
Chael Sonnen takes you on a tour of the home he stayed in while filming TUF Brazil. Is it me or could this be anywhere? Did Chael even go to Brazil?
Really enjoying this series from Paul Buentello.
Joe Rogan talks Conor McGregor in an outtake from his recent documentary.
Ahead of the curve. These usually go about 30 seconds.
Long watches.
UFC 171: Fight Club Q & A with Pettis
UFC Fight Night: Shogun vs. Henderson 2 – Care/Don’t Care Preview
TWEETS
Just seems unnatural.
Recovering nicely after my tough fight lol. pic.twitter.com/WcfRdErtkE
— Johny Hendricks (@JohnyHendricks) March 19, 2014
We’re keeping the faith.
Wow, what a week! Thank you everyone for your support and interest w our meeting w @UFC. I truly appreciate the love!
— Holly Holm (@_HOLLYHOLM) March 20, 2014
I am training hard for April 4 and am taking this fight seriously. One day at a time and we will see where how cards unfold.
— Holly Holm (@_HOLLYHOLM) March 20, 2014
Tutor*
He’s not scared. He’s just that stupid. Get a tudor to teach you how to spell your own name and sign the contract.
— chael sonnen (@sonnench) March 20, 2014
Congrats.
Today is my third year anniversary of being the @UFC light heavyweight champion!!! I’ll reward myself with a full day of extreme hard work
— Jon Bones Jones (@JonnyBones) March 19, 2014
Just bought my first home. Awesomeness. #GeorgiaOnMyMind
— Cole Miller (@colemillerATT) March 19, 2014
Nice.
It was an honor to share the cage with you brother. You’re a warrior! @Rick_Story pic.twitter.com/JfVwZMbrkP
— Kelvin Gastelum (@KelvinGastelum) March 19, 2014
@KelvinGastelum dude your gonna do great! Keep doing what your doing and good things will keep happening. Maybe a rematch down the road 🙂
— Rick (@Rick_Story) March 19, 2014
May they never actually fight.
@Unclecreepymma @ufc yeah let’s hope your fake injury heals in time 👍
— Brad Pickett (@One_Punch) March 20, 2014
213.8
I loss 6 pounds already 👍👍 http://t.co/2lQAUA4YuD
— Hector Lombard (@HectorLombard) March 20, 2014
I won’t ruin it by putting it in context.
I’m gonna get a pair of hard pipe hitting brothers to go to work on the homes here with a blowtorch and a pair of pliars. #whatnow
— michael (@bisping) March 20, 2014
FIGHT ANNOUNCEMENTS
Announced yesterday (Mar. 19 2014)
Li Jingliang vs. Danny Mitchell at UFC 173
Jeremy Stephens vs. Cub Swanson at UFC Fight Night San Antonio
Frankie Edgar vs. B.J. Penn at The Ultimate Fighter 19 Finale
FANPOST OF THE DAY
Today’s Fanpost of the Day comes via iCourtland.
What I think should be done about the welterweight division…
I’m sure that we can all agree that whom ever the UFC gives the next title shot to, won’t come without controversy. Woodley, MacDonald, and Lombard, have all made their cases. You could even throw Diaz’s name in the mix. So you have 4 guys here who could all be the next contender. Here’s my take on it. Jonny Hendricks clearly needs a little time off due to that elbow injury and that grueling war he was just in with Lawler. So in the meantime why not matchup the 4 potential contenders and have them square off? Woodley, Lombard, MacDonald, and Diaz are all ready to go. None have any major injuries. The UFC can match up these 4 fighters in any way possible and the best performance gets the next title shot. Sounds pretty obvious right? Woodley vs Lombard and Diaz vs MacDonald. or ANY combination of the 4. Remember a couple of years ago in the LHW division when Jon Jones had no clear #1 contender so the UFC held a 4 man tournament with Shogun vs. Vera and Machida vs. Bader? Same scenario here. Let the welterweights duke it out once again until you have a clear #1 contender that the majority of the fans can agree on.
…
Check out the rest of the post here.
Found something you’d like to see in the Morning Report? Just hit me up on Twitter @SaintMMA and we’ll include it in tomorrow’s column.