Michael Chandler is the perfect example of what was possible in Bellator‘s original tournament format.
The former standout wrestler from Missouri University entered the promotion’s season four lightweight tournament as a relative unknown with three professional fights to his name. One year later, Chandler was the undisputed lightweight champion and a presence on the greater radar of top-level fighters at 155 pounds.
It took four impressive victories over a seven-month period to accomplish this task, with the last win in which he dethroned Eddie Alvarez at Bellator 58 a candidate for 2011’s Fight of the Year.
With the lightweight strap around his waist, the Team Alliance member had done what few believed he could pull off, and Chandler set about defending the title he’d earned.
That said, he also was about to enter a stretch where large lapses would fall between bouts, and the opponents he faced in those fights were hardly the caliber of what a champion should be fighting. These were all things Chandler recognized happening around him, but as his position moved to become the face of the promotion he championed, there was very little he could do to stop it.
“I was on both sides of the old tournament style,” Chandler told Bleacher Report. “On my way to winning the title, it was great for me, but once I won the title, it was tough for me to get fights. Either guys would get injured, or there wasn’t a tournament winner that year so I had to wait a number of months until they had my next title challenger. And they didn’t want to bring guys in because of the possibility of me slipping on a banana peel and losing. All of those things combined to make it a tough situation.”
Despite Chandler appearing in sponsor commercials and becoming the face of the promotion, he would go on to lose his title in the highly anticipated rematch with Alvarez at Bellator 106 last November.
While their “rubber match” was supposed be the next showing for both fighters, Alvarez would pull out of the fight with a concussion. Chandler would go on to lose to Alvarez’s replacement, Will Brooks, via split decision in his next bout, and suddenly, the prospect-turned-champion had lost consecutive fights for the first time in his career.
With that drastic turn of events, it seemed as if the fighter who was supposed to be the future of Bellator‘s lightweight division was rapidly slipping out of touch with the position he fought so valiantly to claim.
“I’ve learned so much,” he added. “I’ve really taken a step back and learned a lot from these last two fights. I’ve learned from the things that were in my control as well as the things that were beyond my control. Life throws you curveballs and there are things that happen you don’t understand why they happened at the time. But then you step back and understand you’re a better fighter and competitor because of the things that happened. That’s really where I’m at today. I sit here a changed man and I’m going to have a chance to go out there and prove that on Nov. 15.
“I’m very confident in my abilities and where I’m at as a fighter,” he added. “I’ve grown so much and I understand mixed martial arts so much more than I did five months ago. I also have a newfound love and gratitude for what I get to do for a living. Fighting on a big stage and in front of the type of crowd that is going to be in the arena that night are things most people don’t get to do. I really am appreciating every last drop and sweetness of this life that I have.”
Fast-forward six months, and the picture looks entirely different.
While Chandler is still working to reclaim his spot atop the 155-pound collective, the company that promotes his fights has undergone a drastic sea change. Founder and longtime CEO Bjorn Rebney was fired from the promotion back in June, and filling his shoes would be former Strikeforce frontman Scott Coker.
The hiring of Coker would serve to send a renewed sense of motivation up and down the Bellator roster as well as bring a newfound element of respect between Bellator and the MMA community.
Seemingly overnight, the promotion had a fresh start in the MMA world, and Chandler was quick to recognize what he calls the organization’s “new era.” The tournament format that had been used to build the promotion during its first six years was the first thing to go under Coker‘s direction. The new CEO announced the company’s focus would be stacked cards and bigger events, and it was a decision the former lightweight champion found appealing.
“While Scott Coker has been here for a few months, the past few shows were already scheduled when he took over,” Chandler said. “I feel like this card coming up is the first really big event with Bellator‘s new regime, and it feels like a new era is about to start. San Diego is a great city to host this event, and the promotion for the card has been awesome. I drive around the city and see billboards and it’s exciting.
“I dig the new plans for Bellator big-time. I like Scott Coker a lot. He built Strikeforce, turned it into what it was and he has a great reputation with fighters and other promoters. He knows what the heck he’s doing and what he’s talking about. Plus, he’s not afraid to work hard and do things right. With him coming in and having this partnership with Viacom and Spike TV and them working together more cohesively is a great thing. Spike and Viacom are going to handle all of the promotion, and Coker and his team are going to focus on putting on big events and big venues.”
And the biggest event in Chandler’s career is rapidly approaching. The former lightweight champion is fired up like never before to get back into the cage, and he’ll have the opportunity to settle a heated feud in his rematch with Will Brooks.
The chatter between the two fighters hasn’t stopped since their first meeting, and Chandler intends to silence his opponent once and for all at Bellator 131 this Saturday night in San Diego.
Where their first meeting was for the interim lightweight title—an 11th-hour decision none of the parties involved still pretends to understand—the rematch between Chandler and Brooks will be for the undisputed crown at 155 pounds. And while Chandler once proudly wore the divisional strap just more than a year ago, he’s looking at the current lightweight title as something entirely different.
Winning this title at Bellator 131 would make him the promotion’s first lightweight champion under the new regime, and Chandler is determined to start this new chapter as the king of the lightweight mountain under the watch of Coker and Co.
Furthermore, the upcoming tilt with the American Top Team product will give him the opportunity to bring months of Twitter beef and interview chatter to a close inside the cage.
“[Brooks’] antics are only making him look like a guy who has a lot of complaints,” Chandler said. “Life is too short and too sweet to complain about the silly things. At the end of the day, I guess he’s mad about placement on promotional posters and his belt this and his belt that. Him saying I’m the poster boy and that’s how things are always going to be. Those type of things.
“I’d like to count all the number of hours he’s stayed up and worried about all of those things because they don’t matter. On the flipside of this, I haven’t paid any mind to any of it. I haven’t let him rile me up. I haven’t let it bother me, and I’ve kept my focus on the task at hand. You have to keep the main thing the main thing, and that’s the fight coming up. On Nov. 15, it won’t matter what was tweeted or said. It won’t matter who has the better comebacks or who is the better trash-talker or who can sell the fight better.
“On fight night I’m going to sell that fight for 25 minutes,” he added. “It’s going to be violent and it’s going to be exciting for the fans in the arena and everyone watching on Spike TV.”
Duane Finley is a featured columnist for Bleacher Report. All quotes are obtained firsthand unless noted otherwise.
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