Bellator returned to San Jose, California, for its final card of November with Michael Chandler defeating Benson Henderson by split decision to retain the lightweight championship in a thrilling main event.
Chandler entered Saturday on a hot streak, winning each of his last three fights via stoppage after enduring a three-fight losing skid from 2013 to 2014. The 30-year-old was making his first title defense after knocking out Patricky Freire to win the lightweight belt in June.
This was only Henderson’s third fight with Bellator, earning a lightweight title shot after defeating Patricio Freire in August.
Here are the full results from Bellator 165:
Leading up to the main event, the big story of the main card was the impressive mixed martial arts debut of Keri Anne Melendez, who is married to former Strikeforce lightweight champion Gilbert Melendez.
Going against Sheila Padilla, Melendez wasted no time announcing her arrival. She scored the knockout 47 seconds into the first round with a hard right that caught Padilla square on the jaw and followed it up with a brief flurry before the referee stopped it.
Melendez’s husband took to Instagram to invite everyone to a post-fight celebration:
ESPN.com’s Brett Okamoto seemed impressed by the power display shown by Melendez in her debut:
Henderson and Chandler had a tough act to follow, though they were more than up to the challenge. Chandler had a spectacular first round, including hitting a Brock Lesnar-esque German suplex on the challenger.
MMA GIFs tried to come up with a close equivalent for what Chandler did to Henderson in the opening five minutes:
Chandler was the aggressor in the first round but couldn’t hit the final blow on Henderson, who is notorious for having a strong chin. The champion did appear to have a shot at locking in a chokehold for the submission before giving it up when Henderson moved just enough to prevent him from getting it.
Things were more even in the second round, with Henderson being more aggressive. He even hit a punch that briefly sent Chandler to the mat, though the fight was never close to being stopped.
The third round belonged to Chandler, who controlled virtually all of the last two minutes on the ground after Henderson tried going for the takedown. Chandler again tried to lock in a choke before Henderson was able to slide just off to the side.
It was the fourth round that gave Henderson his first significant opportunity to end the fight. Chandler got things to the ground when he picked up Henderson and dropped him to the canvas, but Henderson wound up controlling things from that moment.
In the final seconds of the round, Henderson locked in a chokehold that Chandler was able to flip out of but was wobbly heading to his stool after the bell rang. He remained the aggressor in the fifth round, going for a flying knee that helped get things back to the mat.
Henderson attempted to wrench Chandler’s neck in a rear-naked choke for a moment before Chandler was able to flip back on top and attempt an armbar. Neither fighter could get much going over the final two minutes, though Henderson continued to throw strikes from the top to end the fight and save it from going to the judges.
UFC women’s bantamweight champion Amanda Nunes summed the epic 25-minute battle perfectly:
Front Row Brian did note the difference in appearance between the two competitors after the match ended:
Chandler was bleeding from his ear and had a lot of bruises on his face, but because of how fights get judged by round, looking like you lost the 25 minutes doesn’t mean you lost the most rounds.
Henderson can hold his head high after the defeat. It was close enough that he could have easily been declared the winner. Even though things didn’t work out for him on this night, an immediate rematch wouldn’t be the worst idea.
This was a signature win for Chandler. He stood toe-to-toe with one of the toughest fighters in the sport who has only been knocked out once in 31 career fights, took Henderson’s best shot multiple times and survived to retain his crown.
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