Michael Chandler
Bellator Fighting Champion lightweight title holder Michael Chandler (9-0) will take to the cage tonight for a “Super-Fight” against PRIDE, UFC, and DREAM veteran Akihiro Gono (32-17-7).
The two headline today’s (May 4, 2012) Bellator 67 event which goes down at Casino Rama in Rama, Ontario, Canada.
This will be Chandler’s first fight since earning the title last November against Bellator poster-boy Eddie Alvarez.
The win helped to make Chandler’s name one that mixed martial arts fans easily recognize, and has helped to affirm the champ’s confidence in himself that he’s doing everything right.
Chandler spoke to MMAMania.com recently about how his life has changed since winning the title and his fight versus Gono.
Brian Hemminger (MMAmania.com): You were confident heading into that bout against Alvarez which is a great sign, showing no fear. Now that you’re the champ, you’ve beaten him, what’s your confidence level like now? Did it soar even higher or have you tried to stay level?
Michael Chandler: My confidence is always very, very high. I wake up every morning knowing God put me on this Earth for this reason. When you wake up and you know you’re fulfilling your purpose in life and you’re working towards the goals that you know you believe in and you know you were put on this Earth to accomplish, it takes on new meaning. For me, I wake up every single morning knowing I was put in this sport to be dominant and be a champion.
Right now I’m the Bellator champion. I want to get to number one in the world. I want to be known as the best lightweight in the world and I’m not that yet so I have a ton of work left to do but I have a ton of confidence that I’m gonna get there because I know I’m doing what I’m supposed to be doing. It’s a lot of hard work. My confidence comes from my hard work and the great coaches and training partners I have around me.
It’s not, “I can jump higher or run faster or punch harder than that other guy” but I know I worked harder than him. I know I worked with better quality training partners and I worked with better quality coaches than him and if you truly believe in that, if you sell out and buy into that notion that you are training harder than anyone else in the world, you feel like you can’t lose.
Watch Chandler take on Gono tonight on MTV2, with the main card of Bellator 67 beginning at 8pm EST (5pm PST).