Michael Chandler defeats Eddie Alvarez at Bellator 58
With four victories inside the Bellator cage in 2011 including capturing the promotions lightweight title, former NCAA Division I wrestler Michal Chandler (10-0) has seen his star rise from relative obscurity, to one of the worlds top ten ranked 155-lb fighters.
With an unblemished record and a world title around his waist, one might think that the Bellator champ might look to perfect what got him to the top, but the former University of Missouri wrestler tells MMAFighting.com that after only “Three years into this sport. I just want to get better.”
“I wasn’t supposed to beat (Eddie) Alvarez on paper. I wasn’t supposed to beat Pitbull (Patricky Freire) either. But you have to go out and lay it on line. You have to perform like you train and like you see yourself. I saw myself as a champion. It’s not that I’m cocky or arrogant, but that I believe I was put in this sport for a reason. This was another stepping stone to get to where I want to be.”
“I see myself as a champ, a guy who makes the right decisions and is working his butt off to be No. 1 in the world,” he said. “For, me, the rankings don’t matter. It’s me vs. another man in the cage. There are 1,000 ways to win and 1,000 ways to lose. There are no reasons for me to listen to the naysayers or even the people who are pumping me up. I’m only three years into this sport. I just want to get better.”
Chandler beat former champ Eddie Alvarez last November at Bellator 58 to capture the title, and then went on to beat Akihiro Gono via first round TKO at Bellator 67 in a non-title match this past May.
The lightweight champ will defend his title against Rick Hawn this fall and then take on the Bellator Season Seven tournament champion after that.