Chandler on 1st Alvarez Fight: Feeling Pain Lets You Know You’re Human, Alive

Undefeated Bellator lightweight champion Michael Chandler gets a long-awaited rematch with the man he won the title from, Eddie Alvarez, tonight at Bellator 106. 
Their classic four-round battle in November 2011, which Chandler won with a rear-nak…

Undefeated Bellator lightweight champion Michael Chandler gets a long-awaited rematch with the man he won the title from, Eddie Alvarez, tonight at Bellator 106. 

Their classic four-round battle in November 2011, which Chandler won with a rear-naked choke, was recounted by the former Missouri Tiger in an interview with ESPN

“Ninety-nine percent of people watch that third round and think I was almost finished,” Chandler said. “But to me, I wasn’t even close to being finished … When you’re in that crazy storm for two minutes and you’re getting your face beat in, your emotions are running high,” Chandler said. “Your heart rate easily doubles. And your body starts to fatigue because of the craziness that’s going on. But when you get that minute back and you can sit on your stool, you look your coach in the eye as best as you can and consciously let your body get to neutral, back to normal … As cliche as it sounds, it lets you know you’re human. You like to feel pain because it lets you know you’re alive. A crazy fight like that, it was great. I don’t want to make a habit out of it, because ultimately, I want to go out there and be able to compete in this sport at a high level for as long as I can.”

Chandler also reiterated that when he trains, he acts like each new round is a fresh start, which was critical for surviving Alvarez’s onslaught in the third round and taking over the fight in the fourth frame.

He also attributed a poor third round to throwing a body kick that landed on Alvarez’s hip, badly injuring his foot. 

The 24-year-old, who has very rarely been tested by his other 11 opponents inside the cage, also notes that he’d prefer a “quick finish” in the rematch as opposed to another all out war. 

Since his first fight with “The Silent Assassin,” Chandler has made short work of Akihiro Gono, Rick Hawn and David Rickels. 

On the other hand, Alvarez scored back-to-back knockouts over Shinya Aoki and Patricky Freire, before a well-documented contract dispute with Bellator kept him out of action for a little over a year. 

Will Chandler solidify his position as one of the best lightweights in the world, or will Alvarez prove he had an off day when he lost the Bellator gold about two years ago?

 

John Heinis is a Featured Columnist for Bleacher Report. He is also the MMA Editor for eDraft.com.

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Bellator 106: 3 Questions We Have About Eddie Alvarez

Besides Gilbert Melendez and Benson Henderson, Eddie Alvarez is the best lightweight in the world without a title.
Once upon a time, Alvarez held the Bellator lightweight championship, but an eager Michael Chandler took it from him roughly two years ag…

Besides Gilbert Melendez and Benson Henderson, Eddie Alvarez is the best lightweight in the world without a title.

Once upon a time, Alvarez held the Bellator lightweight championship, but an eager Michael Chandler took it from him roughly two years ago.

Since then, Alvarez has utilized his crisp boxing, excellent footwork and elite experience to capture back-to-back first-round finishes against two very respectable opponents, Shinya Aoki and Patricky Freire.

With that said, the 29-year-old is not complete without his belt.  He’s hungry, determined and ready to reclaim what was once his.

Here are three questions the formidable veteran needs to answer to make this weekend’s rematch with Chandler a vengeful success. 

 

Will the one-year layoff play a factor?

It doesn’t matter if you’re Jose Aldo or Roy Nelson, being absent from the cage for over a year never leads to something good.  Most of the time, it spells ring rust.

Alvarez, who is used to fighting two or three times a year, will have to shake off any cobwebs early in order to compete alongside the champion this Saturday.

With that said, Alvarez possesses the type of experience other fighters strive for.  If there is any fighter on the Bellator roster who can put an absence like this behind him and perform to his usual capabilities, it’s the former champ.

Plus, he has something to prove after a lengthy contract dispute with Bellator‘s parent company, Viacom.

 

Can he withstand Chandler’s initial burst?

In their first meeting, Chandler came out like a flying banshee.  He pressured the former champ inside and out, landing vicious shots that dropped Alvarez in the first few moments of the first round.

For Alvarez to stay coherent and calm in their rematch, he needs to withstand Chandler’s initial burst. 

As a very athletic fighter with power in his hands and iron in his chin, Chandler doesn’t shy away from early exchanges and really excels when he’s moving forward and pushing the action.

Alvarez needs to utilize patient boxing and swift footwork to avoid any serious quarrels with the champion early in the fight.  If he can do that, Alvarez should be able to score points and tire the champ out.

 

Can he keep the fight standing?

In their first meeting, Chandler was able to take Alvarez down at will anytime he got his hands on him.  This time around, assuming Alvarez is able to game plan for Chandler’s heavy hands, he’s going to want to keep the fight standing.

That’s much easier said than done against a wrestler of Chandler’s caliber, but you have to remember that Alvarez is one of the division’s most athletic guys in his own right.  He has the ability to slither away against the cage or in the clinch to avoid being taken down.

Also, if Alvarez is able to keep the fight on the feet, he has to understand that Chandler is at his best when he’s moving forward.  That’s where he did most of his damage in the first fight, and that’s exactly how he’ll try to pursue Alvarez in the rematch.

If the former champ can pressure Chandler right out of the gate, mix in body punches and kicks, and challenge his conditioning, then Alvarez might have a chance at stopping an undefeated force.

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Watch Michael Chandler and Eddie Alvarez Watch Their First Fight on ‘Unfinished Business’

When Bellator lightweight champion Michael Chandler and former champ Eddie Alvarez face off for the second time this Saturday at Bellator 106, they will be carrying a tremendous weight of expectations on their backs. Chandler/Alvarez 1 wasn’t simply a great fight, or just another a Fight of the Year candidate — it remains the greatest bout in Bellator promotional history, by a fairly wide margin. It was a rare double-comeback fight, in which both fighters found themselves close to the brink of defeat, and both managed to storm back from the abyss. Since then, Alvarez has endured an emotionally and financially harrowing legal battle just to get to the point where he could even compete again. His rematch with Chandler can’t just be a “fun fight.” Anything short of another instant classic would be a disappointment.

To help promote the upcoming battle, Spike TV released a half-hour documentary special called “Unfinished Business” that recaps the four-round war from Bellator 58, adding commentary from Chandler and Alvarez themselves, who talk us through the most pivotal moments. Plus, the fighters’ training partners and coaches weigh-in, along with appearances from a couple of UFC fighters who have likely been chewed out by Dana White for daring to appear in a “Viacom MMA” presentation. Anyway, the show is a must-watch for Bellator fans, especially if you somehow missed Mike and Eddie’s first fight two years ago. Enjoy.

When Bellator lightweight champion Michael Chandler and former champ Eddie Alvarez face off for the second time this Saturday at Bellator 106, they will be carrying a tremendous weight of expectations on their backs. Chandler/Alvarez 1 wasn’t simply a great fight, or just another a Fight of the Year candidate — it remains the greatest bout in Bellator promotional history, by a fairly wide margin. It was a rare double-comeback fight, in which both fighters found themselves close to the brink of defeat, and both managed to storm back from the abyss. Since then, Alvarez has endured an emotionally and financially harrowing legal battle just to get to the point where he could even compete again. His rematch with Chandler can’t just be a “fun fight.” Anything short of another instant classic would be a disappointment.

To help promote the upcoming battle, Spike TV released a half-hour documentary special called “Unfinished Business” that recaps the four-round war from Bellator 58, adding commentary from Chandler and Alvarez themselves, who talk us through the most pivotal moments. Plus, the fighters’ training partners and coaches weigh-in, along with appearances from a couple of UFC fighters who have likely been chewed out by Dana White for daring to appear in a “Viacom MMA” presentation. Anyway, the show is a must-watch for Bellator fans, especially if you somehow missed Mike and Eddie’s first fight two years ago. Enjoy.

The Unsupportable Opinion: Death Was the Best Outcome for Bellator’s Inaugural PPV


(MMA gets another PPV that never was)

When your dog is terminally ill, you put it down.

When the sales for your inaugural PPV are anemic, you should do the same.

Officially, Bellator canceled the PPV because Tito Ortiz withdrew from the main event bout versus Rampage Jackson, and not because of the PPV’s dubious chances of success. But the result is the same as if they had just canceled it outright: Bellator saves face.

Ortiz’s injury and the resulting cancellation of the PPV were a godsend for Bellator. Why? Let’s look at the most likely scenario for what could’ve happened if Bellator went on with their PPV — both if Ortiz had gotten injured and if he hadn’t.

Scenario 1, Ortiz doesn’t get injured and the PPV goes on:


(MMA gets another PPV that never was)

By Matt Saccaro

When your dog is terminally ill, you put it down.

When the sales for your inaugural PPV are anemic, you should do the same.

Officially, Bellator canceled the PPV because Tito Ortiz withdrew from the main event bout versus Rampage Jackson, and not because of the PPV’s dubious chances of success. But the result is the same as if they had just canceled it outright: Bellator saves face.

Ortiz’s injury and the resulting cancellation of the PPV were a godsend for Bellator. Why? Let’s look at the most likely scenario for what could’ve happened if Bellator went on with their PPV — both if Ortiz had gotten injured and if he hadn’t.

Scenario 1, Ortiz doesn’t get injured and the PPV goes on: What happens here? The show probably bombs with 10k buys or fewer. Viacom realizes that, like Dana White said, there’s no value in Bellator.

Viacom either pulls the plug outright or scales down Bellator from hopeful claimant to the UFC’s throne into something akin to the toughman contests on FX. If this happened, Viacom would keep it around because it’d get decent enough ratings for the pittance it’d cost to produce the scaled down version of the show.

Scenario 2, Ortiz does get injured and the PPV still goes on: Attila Vegh replaces Ortiz against Rampage (even though Attila Vegh was “injured” and had to pull out of a fight on this PPV previously). The PPV bombs even worse.

Those two scenarios are both terrible for Bellator. The PPV, Ortiz or no, was destined for Affliction-level failure. Making the card free on Spike was the best option (and was from the onset of Viacom’s acquisition of former UFC “stars”).

The casuals don’t know Michael Chandler (despite the fact that he’s the face of Dave & Busters). The casuals don’t know Eddie Alvarez. The casuals don’t know most of the other fighters on the card either. Putting the entirety of the Bellator PPV card on Spike will help build their profiles a little more, or at the very least stop people from forgetting about them.

Furthermore, Bellator can use Rampage like he should’ve been used: To help get more ratings on Spike to draw more eyeballs to Bellator’s stable of talented, non-UFC-washout fighters.

Bjorn Rebney said that they were going to book a fight for Rampage “literally as quickly as possible.” Hopefully for Bellator’s sake, that means it’ll be on free television (unless they’re planning on producing an ad-hoc PPV solely to showcase an old, slow, whining, lazy Rampage versus some random can). Rampage, being Bellator’s fighter with the greatest name value — yeah, I know, that’s not saying much — can draw more viewers to the younger, more talented fighters on Bellator’s roster.

Allow me to make a comparison to pro wrestling history: #2 promotion WCW hired Hulk Hogan after he had left the WWE (then WWF) because he was a star. That star brought viewers to WCW, viewers who where then wowed by some the undercard matches between young, exciting wrestlers like Eddie Guerrero, Rey Mysterio Jr, and Chris Jericho — wrestlers who many casual fans might not have ever seen if the older, established Hogan hadn’t brought attention to WCW.

Of course, Bellator Rampage Jackson is no WCW Hulk Hogan — who was still the biggest star in wrestling at the time. Nevertheless, Bellator will build greater name value for their fighters by showcasing their big UFC acquisitions Tito and Rampage on free TV alongside the young, hungry, talented fighters. Canceling the PPV has allowed them to do that.

The cloud of Bellator’s PPV cancellation doesn’t have a silver lining because the entire cloud practically is a silver lining.

Dana White: UFC Doesn’t Sign Bellator Rejects, Alvarez Loses They Won’t Sign Him

It was just a few months ago that Eddie Alvarez was the most popular kid in school as he had two different promotions fighting over the right to obtain his services.
The former Bellator champion entered restricted free agency earlier this year and imme…

It was just a few months ago that Eddie Alvarez was the most popular kid in school as he had two different promotions fighting over the right to obtain his services.

The former Bellator champion entered restricted free agency earlier this year and immediately received a lucrative offer from the UFC. As part of the matching rights from their original contract with Alvarez, Bellator then countered and tried to re-sign him as well.

Originally, Bellator and Alvarez ended up countersuing each other over the terms of the matching contract, but just weeks ago cooler heads prevailed and the two parties reached a new deal. Alvarez is now back in the Bellator fold and will face lightweight champion Michael Chandler as part of the upcoming November 2 pay-per-view featuring former UFC stars Quinton “Rampage” Jackson against Tito Ortiz in the main event.

Chandler defeated Alvarez in their last meeting in one of the best fights in all of 2012.

Rumors have swirled ever since Alvarez signed the deal that his new contract was potentially as short as two fights. The idea was that if Alvarez beats Chandler in November, he would give him an automatic rematch, and the two fighters would face off again.

If Alvarez loses, then Bellator would cut him and let him go after free agency once again. Since those rumors surfaced, Alvarez claims that the terms being reported are false and he’d rather focus on the fight ahead instead of answering questions about his contract.

The problem with the deal, if it is under the terms as previously stated, Alvarez becomes a free agent only if he loses in the matchup with Chandler. If that happens, Alvarez won’t find a home with the UFC because, as UFC president Dana White said on Thursday, they won’t pursue a fighter coming off a loss.

White says that Bellator CEO Bjorn Rebney and the folks at Viacom who run Bellator are putting Alvarez in a tremendously bad spot, and one that he likely cannot benefit from in the future.

“I heard if he loses, he gets cut. (Loses he gets cut; wins he has a third fight; if he wins that, he’s a free agent.) It’s a scumbag boxing deal,” White said. “What do they think? If Eddie Alvarez loses, he’s gonna come sign a deal with the UFC? No. We really don’t take their rejects. If Eddie loses, why would we bring him to the UFC? They put him in a real (expletive) situation. But that’s what that guy (Bjorn Rebney) is, he’s a piece of (expletive).

“He had an opportunity to go out and find out what he was worth. And he did, yet he didn’t get paid. Yet he didn’t get what he was worth.”

White wasn’t heartbroken about not landing Alvarez because he knows the UFC will move forward with or without the Philadelphia native coming to fight in the Octagon.

The real loser in this whole matter is Alvarez, who now has to go back and fight for Bellator, and if he can’t pick up a win over Chandler, then he’s stuck without a home in either promotion.

“The UFC is gonna roll on with or without Eddie Alvarez, but Eddie Alvarez worked his whole career to get to this spot where there was at least a couple players that were interested in him,” White said. “Then he went out and found out what he was worth, and those guys screwed him.”

Damon Martin is a Featured Columnist for Bleacher Report and all quotes were obtained firsthand unless otherwise noted.

 

 

 

 

 

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Bellator CEO Appears Ready to Let Welterweight Champ Askren Leave for the UFC


(I would totally wear that shirt. But if somebody asks me who it’s supposed to be, I’d tell them it’s Rob Tyner. / Photo via MMADiehards)

Former Olympic wrestler Ben Askren is undefeated in 12 fights since he began fighting MMA in 2009, has won his last two by TKO, and has beaten many of the best welterweights outside of the UFC. It’s little wonder why fans have been curious how the Bellator welterweight champion would do against the best in the world in the UFC and even champion Georges St. Pierre, if only because of Askren’s superb wrestling.

In the not so distant past, however, Askren has gone above and beyond to be a company man for Bellator and has insisted he had no interest in the UFC. Fine, we don’t like you anyway, you’re boring and not pretty, UFC President Dana pretty much responded.

But last week, when White was asked whether the UFC would speak with Askren, whose contract is up with Bellator, White said that his promotion would indeed talk to the 2008 U.S. Olympic Freestlye wrestler.

That was trippy enough, but it’s a testament to the fact that the UFC usually seeks out the best fighters in the world, no matter how popular or “exciting” MMA fans or White himself think they are. Bellator, however, seems to be taking a different approach.

While the organization has been snapping up aging and losing former UFC fighters left and right, their CEO now says that they are not even interested in re-signing Askren — a home grown elite fighter of their own.


(I would totally wear that shirt. But if somebody asks me who it’s supposed to be, I’d tell them it’s Rob Tyner. / Photo via MMADiehards)

Former Olympic wrestler Ben Askren is undefeated in 12 fights since he began fighting MMA in 2009, has won his last two by TKO, and has beaten many of the best welterweights outside of the UFC. It’s little wonder why fans have been curious how the Bellator welterweight champion would do against the best in the world in the UFC and even champion Georges St. Pierre, if only because of Askren’s superb wrestling.

In the not so distant past, however, Askren has gone above and beyond to be a company man for Bellator and has insisted he had no interest in the UFC. Fine, we don’t like you anyway, you’re boring and not pretty, UFC President Dana pretty much responded.

But last week, when White was asked whether the UFC would speak with Askren, whose contract is up with Bellator, White said that his promotion would indeed talk to the 2008 U.S. Olympic Freestlye wrestler.

That was trippy enough, but it’s a testament to the fact that the UFC usually seeks out the best fighters in the world, no matter how popular or “exciting” MMA fans or White himself think they are. Bellator, however, seems to be taking a different approach.

While the organization has been snapping up aging and losing former UFC fighters left and right, their CEO now says that they are not even interested in re-signing Askren — a home grown elite fighter of their own.

“If Ben’s going to go to the UFC, we should speed up that process so he can go fight. I’d love to see Ben versus GSP,” Bellator CEO Bjorn Rebney recently told ESPN.

“I don’t think we’re going to make an offer at this point…So I don’t see any reason to make anybody sit out.”

When Bellator actually wants a fighter, they have no problem making them “sit out” during protracted legal battles. This guy know what we’re talking about.

“If the UFC does make an offer, we’ll take a look at it and move on from there,” Rebney said. “We haven’t been proactive yet. I have nothing but good things to say about Ben as a fighter, but we’re all very aware of how he fights and what he does. It’s not for everyone.”

Not for Bellator, we guess. It appears that Askren is not exciting enough to Bellator and the fact that he’s a dominant, elite fighter isn’t enough to interest them at whatever financial cost they imagine he’ll run them.

So, Bellator currently looks poised to let a champion walk away. Not that they’ve exactly been a bastion of title respect and consistency up to this point anyhow.

If Askren joins the UFC, who do you want to see him face first, nation? He’d become the most accomplished amateur wrestler in the welterweight division immediately. Do you those skills will be enough to challenge the likes of Georges St. Pierre and Johny Hendricks?

Elias Cepeda