The longstanding relationship between Michael Chandler and Bellator will be tested after the former champion’s next fight.
It appears the longstanding relationship between [autotag]Michael Chandler[/autotag] and Bellator will be tested after the former champion’s next fight.
Chandler (20-5 MMA, 17-5 BMMA), a three-time lightweight champion who holds promotional records for title-fight victories and overall finishes, recently revealed he will be a free agent after his next fight. It’s the first time Chandler will test the open market since joining the promotion in September 2010, as both sides always managed to strike a deal before reaching that stage.
This time will be different, though. There doesn’t appear to be any ill will between the two sides, but Coker said the issue requires closer examination.
“He’s done it all,” Coker told MMA Junkie. “He’s not 21 anymore. He’s got to do what he has to do and we’ll be talking to him. But I’m not sure where he’ll end up. But we’ll go back and look at the statistics of the gate, the type of fights he put on and the ratings and see what type of formula we can put together to make him a good offer. But, free agency works both ways.
“Just like we got Gegard (Mousasi) and Ryan Bader and (Cris) Cyborg – we’ve done our fair share of damage in the free agency market. Free agency works both ways. Michael is going to look for the best deal and we’ll see. Who knows? He could end up with us.”
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Chandler, 33, does have one fight remaining on his contract, and it’s expected to be a rematch with Benson Henderson. The pair were scheduled to fight at Bellator 244 on June 6, but the coronavirus pandemic caused Bellator to postpone the event. Coker said Bellator is targeting a tentative return to action in July, and his hope is re-book the matchup with Henderson, then make a decision on Chandler’s status after.
Whether the sides strike a deal or Chandler’s lengthy tenure with Bellator comes to an end, Coker expressed high regard for the fighter.
“We’ll take it after his fight with Benson, we’ll decide what we’re going to do,” Coker said. “Michael has been a great ambassador and a great role model for mixed martial arts. Not just Bellator, but I heard about Michael before I came over here. His fights with Eddie Alvarez were prior to my coming on board and they were some of the best fights in the history of mixed martial arts.”
After Bellator’s 11-year anniversary, we count down the 10 fighters with the most stoppage wins in company history.
With Bellator recently celebrating its 11-year anniversary, MMA Junkie takes a look at the 10 fighters with the most stoppage victories in the history of the organization.
Yamauchi has flourished into a top Bellator fighter in recent years, thriving across two weight classes. Lightweight has been his home of late, though, and en route to landing a top 10 spot on the stoppage list, Yamauchi has the most submission wins (eight) in company history.
9. [autotag]Brennan Ward[/autotag]
Brennan Ward at Bellator 140.
Age: 31
Debut: Bellator 81 on Nov. 16, 2012
Number of wins: Nine
Number of stoppages: Nine
If nothing else, Ward proved to be one of the most exciting fighters in Bellator history during his stay. Whether he gave it or took it, all 15 of Ward’s fights for the promotion ended inside the distance. He was on the winning end of nine of those fights.
MMA Junkie takes a look at the 10 winningest fighters in Bellator history.
With Bellator on hiatus during the ongoing coronavirus outbreak, MMA Junkie takes a look at the 10 winningest fighters in the history of the organization. Of note, all athletes included in this column fight at middleweight or below and have promotional debuts ranging from April 2010 to April 2015.
* * * *
10. [autotag]Michael Page[/autotag]
Michael Page
Age: 32
Debut: Bellator 93 on March 21, 2013
Number of fights: 14
Number of wins: 13
Many won’t like the quality of competition that led to Page landing a spot on the list, but he’s here nonetheless. “MVP” has put together a spectacular highlight reel with Bellator courtesy of a unique and dynamic offensive arsenal.
Page has nothing scheduled as far as his next fight, but the fan desire is to see him face another top welterweight.
9. [autotag]Pat Curran[/autotag]
Pat Curran
Age: 32
Debut: Bellator 14 on April 15, 2010
Number of fights: 18
Number of wins: 13
Despite having fought just three times in the past four years, former featherweight champion Curran finds himself in the thick of the pack among the biggest winners in Bellator history.
Curran was bounced from the ongoing featherweight grand prix in an opening-round bout against Adam Borics at Bellator 226 in September. He hasn’t not since addressed his future plans.
8. [autotag]Joe Warren[/autotag]
Joe Warren
Age: 43
Debut: Bellator 13 on April 8, 2010
Number of fights: 20
Number of wins: 13
Not only was Warren the first in Bellator history to win titles in two separate weight classes, but he’s also the longest-tenured fighter in the history of the organization, going back nearly a decade.
Although “The Baddest Man on the Planet” hasn’t fought since November 2018, he insists he’s not yet retired and is biding his time for the right moment to get back in the cage.
Benson Henderson doesn’t plan on leaving things in the hands of the judges this time around against Michael Chandler.
NEW YORK – [autotag]Benson Henderson[/autotag] doesn’t plan on leaving things in the hands of the judges this time around.
Henderson (28-8 MMA, 5-3 BMMA) rematches [autotag]Michael Chandler[/autotag] (20-5 MMA, 17-5 BMMA) at Bellator 244 on June 6 in Chicago in a title eliminator bout, looking to avenge his loss from over three years ago, when he was narrowly defeated by then-Bellator lightweight champion Chandler.
The two were originally scheduled to rematch in December, but an injury forced Henderson out, the first time in the former UFC and WEC lightweight champion’s 14-year career he withdrew from a fight.
Henderson revealed that he actually went into his first fight with Chandler carrying a series of injuries, so he vowed not to make the same mistake again, opting to pull out, and have the fight rescheduled for a later date.
“My last fight against Chandler, I fought with a torn ACL,” Henderson told MMA Junkie. “I had a torn ACL, torn MCL, two torn meniscus and I still decided to fight anyways. Probably not the best decision. So for this one, I was like ‘yeah, maybe I should be healthy.’ You’re never like one-hundred percent, you always have nicks and bruises but fighting with a torn ACL, fighting with a broken bone, probably wouldn’t have been a smart thing to do.”
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Their first fight was close, as Henderson suffered a split-decision loss. But this time, he thinks battle-tested Chandler won’t be as durable, and he’ll look to capitalize.
“Chandler, he can get it as many times as he wants to,” Henderson said. “If he wants to fight 10 times, that’s no problem but I’m going to win nine of those 10 times. He got the first one, they gave it to him as a split decision. The next nine, I’ll be putting him away. I’ll be finishing him, looking for submissions, looking for the knockout. His chin’s not the same as it was earlier in his career.
“Earlier in his career, he was known as throwing hard, and having a good chin and this and that. Now he doesn’t throw quite as hard. Now his chin is a little more suspect and he relies on his wrestling a lot more in his later fights and I don’t think he’ll be able to rely on that against me, outwrestling me in our next fight.”
Michael Chandler doesn’t go the distance often, but he knows he’s in for another battle when he rematches Benson Henderson.
NEW YORK – [autotag]Michael Chandler[/autotag] doesn’t go the distance often, but he knows he’s in for another battle when he rematches [autotag]Benson Henderson[/autotag].
Former three-time Bellator lightweight champion Chandler (20-5 MMA, 17-5 BMMA) first faced Henderson (28-8 MMA, 5-3 BMMA) over three years ago, edging him out in a back-and-forth battle to retain his title.
The two will run it back in the main event of Bellator 244 on June 6 in Chicago in a title eliminator bout. They were originally scheduled to meet this past December, but an injury forced Henderson out, and Chandler faced Sidney Outlaw instead, knocking him out in the first round.
With another win under his belt, the stakes are higher for Chandler, who looks to get yet another opportunity at the title with a win – but it’s a position with which he’s certainly familiar.
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“This is a fight that needed to happen,” Chandler told MMA Junkie. “The lightweight division isn’t the deepest at Bellator, so two of the top guys going at it. They were talking about it being a title eliminator – whoever wins this is going to fight for the title – and that’s kind of where I’ve been at my whole career. As soon as I beat Eddie Alvarez, I was fighting for the title or to get to that title.”
Former UFC and WEC lightweight champ Henderson has proven to be a hard out for many opponents with his cardio and toughness, having gone the distance in over half of his fights.
And for Chandler, who boasts a 75 percent finishing rate, he thinks the fight being three rounds this time plays in his favor.
“This fight poses some great threats,” Chandler said. “Benson Henderson is a hard guy – he’s not the most talented fighter, but he’s a hard guy to beat. He’s not an easy guy to beat, you’ve got to put a pace on him, you’ve got to put a gameplan on him. This three-round fight lends it’s hand more than a five-round fight would and I’m excited to – this fight is easier for me because I can put my foot on the gas for 15 minutes and put it on him and give the fans what they want and hopefully fight for the title later on this year.”
Having already competed with Henderson for 25 minutes, Chandler said he will look to approach things slightly different this time around. Instead of chasing the finish, he insists he’ll let it come naturally.
“I also know, chances of me finishing him, in my mind the way I’m approaching it, are a lot less than I fought the first fight,” Chandler said. “The first fight, I thought I was going to go out there and finish him, so you saw how I fought the first round, second round, third, fourth, fifth round. This fight, I’m going to put on a good pace, a good methodical pace. Still violent, still deadly like I always am, bite down on my mouth piece and throw techniques with ill-intent but not looking for that knockout shot – looking to really just break him.”
Bellator 244 takes place at Wintrust Arena. The night’s main card streams on DAZN.
Check out the faceoffs from some of the biggest upcoming fights on the Bellator schedule, including Gegard Mousasi vs. Douglas Lima.
NEW YORK – Bellator hosted a news conference Monday to promote the biggest bouts on its upcoming schedule, and at the end of it the fighters got face to face.
Fourteen athletes from future championship, main event and featherweight grand prix tournament bouts were in attendance, including the headliners from Friday’s Bellator 241 event, [autotag]Patricio Freire[/autotag] and [autotag]Pedro Carvalho[/autotag].
In addition, a number of others got a chance to go toe-to-toe, including: [autotag]Emmanuel Sanchez[/autotag] vs. [autotag]Daniel Weichel[/autotag] (Bellator 241 on March 13), [autotag]Ryan Bader[/autotag] vs. [autotag]Vadim Nemkov[/autotag] (Bellator 242 on May 9), [autotag]Gegard Mousasi[/autotag] vs. [autotag]Douglas Lima[/autotag] (Bellator 242), [autotag]James Gallagher[/autotag] vs. [autotag]Cal Ellenor[/autotag] (Bellator Europe 8 on May 16), [autotag]Michael Chandler[/autotag] vs. [autotag]Benson Henderson[/autotag] (Bellator 244 on June 6), [autotag]A.J. McKee[/autotag] vs. [autotag]Darrion Caldwell[/autotag] (Bellator 244) and [autotag]Peter Queally[/autotag] vs. [autotag]Patricky Freire[/autotag] (Bellator Dublin on Oct. 3).
Watch the video above to see all the faceoffs from the media event, which took place at Viacom headquarters in Manhattan.
Bellator will return to Chicago proper for the first time in nearly 10 years with a rematch and a key featherweight tournament fight.
Bellator in June will return to the city of Chicago proper for the first time in nearly 10 years.
Bellator 244 is set for June 6 at Wintrust Arena on the near South Side of the city, the promotion announced today. The main card streams on DAZN following prelims on MMA Junkie.
In the main event, former lightweight champion [autotag]Michael Chandler[/autotag] (20-5 MMA, 17-5 BMMA) meets former UFC and WEC champ [autotag]Benson Henderson[/autotag] (28-8 MMA, 5-3 BMMA) in a rematch from a 2016 fight Chandler won by split decision. In the co-feature, [autotag]A.J. McKee[/autotag] (16-0 MMA, 16-0 BMMA) will take on [autotag]Darrion Caldwell[/autotag] (15-3 MMA, 12-2 BMMA) in the semifinals of the ongoing featherweight grand prix.
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Benson Henderson vs. Michael Chandler
Chandler got back in the win column this past December in Japan with a first-round knockout of Sidney Outlaw at Bellator 237. It was his rebound from a title fight loss to Patricio Freire at Bellator 221 in May 2019. Freire knocked chandler out in 61 seconds to claim the lightweight belt to go along with his featherweight title.
Before the loss to Freire, Chandler had three straight wins, including a decision over Brent Primus in December 2018 to reclaim the lightweight title.
Henderson has rebounded with four straight wins after starting his Bellator tenure on a 1-3 slide. He debuted with the promotion nearly four years ago and fought Andrey Koreshkov for the welterweight title, but lost a decision. He bounced back with a return to lightweight and a win over current dual champion Freire, who suffered a leg injury that led to a Henderson TKO.
After that first Bellator win, he fought Chandler for the lightweight title while Chandler still was champion, but dropped a split call. He had a second straight split decision setback nearly 10 months later with a loss to Patricky Freire at Bellator 183. But since then, he has a submission win over Roger Huerta and three straight decisions over Saad Awad, Adam Piccolotti and Myles Jury.
McKee will be looking to book a trip to the tournament final. This past September, he knocked out Georgi Karakhanyan in just eight seconds at Bellator 228 in the opening round. In his quarterfinal fight in Honolulu in December, he stopped Derek Campos with a third-round armbar to stay unbeaten.
Caldwell, a former Bellator bantamweight champion, has back-to-back wins after moving up to featherweight for the tournament. Prior to that, he had successive losses to Kyoji Horiguchi. The first came in a Rizin event for that promotion’s bantamweight title in Japan, but he lost by submission. The two rematched in June 2019 for Bellator’s bantamweight belt, but Horiguchi took a unanimous decision and Caldwell lost the title.
Caldwell moved to featherweight, a division in which he experimented in a one-off fight while bantamweight champ, and took a unanimous decision from Henry Corrales in the tournament’s opening round. In January, he handed Adam Borics the first loss of his career with a submission in the quarterfinals to advance to the meeting with McKee.
Wintrust Arena is less than three years old. The 10,000-seat venue is the home of the DePaul University men’s and women’s basketball teams, as well as the WNBA’s Chicago Sky. Bellator’s recent events in the Chicago area have taken place at Allstate Arena in northwest suburban Rosemont, Ill., about 20 miles from the city. Bellator held events there in 2017, 2018 and 2019. But the promotion’s most recent visit to Chicago proper was in August 2010 for Bellator 25 at the Chicago Theatre.
A full recap of Bellator’s most significant footnotes and milestones from the events, fights and individual performances of 2019.
Bellator had its biggest and busiest year to date in 2019, with 24 numbered events that helped raise the promotion’s profile to a true position of prominence in MMA. During that time, many records were set and a host of historic moments were produced.
Now that the year has come to a close, here are some of 2019’s most significant fights and individual performances.
* * * *
GENERAL
Bellator president Scott Coker
Bellator held 24 numbered events (not including full European series shows) in 14 different cities across six countries and three continents. The 24 events are the most for the organization in a calendar year.
Those events had 128 main card fights across 11 different weight classes (not including catchweight bouts).
Those 128 main card fights combined for a total cage time of 19:48:08.
The longest event of the year (main card fights only) was Bellator 223 (1:49:02).
The shortest event of the year (main card fights only) was Bellator 214 (20:07).
Eight fighters missed weight for main card bouts. Those fighters went 4-3, while one bout was canceled.
Seven main or co-main event bouts were canceled due to a variety of reasons.
Betting favorites went 82-26 during Bellator main card fights. 14 fights had no odds available while three fights had even odds, and three ended in a no contest.
Six cards saw all the betting favorites win.
No fight cards had more underdogs win than favorites.
Bellator 225 was the first event in company history to have every fight end in a stoppage.
CHAMPIONSHIP FEATS
Ryan Bader
[autotag]Ryan Bader[/autotag] became the first simultaneous two-division champion in company history when he captured the heavyweight title at Bellator 214.
Bader joined Joe Warren as the second fighter in company history to win titles in two weight classes.
[autotag]Rory MacDonald[/autotag] vs. [autotag]Jon Fitch[/autotag] at Bellator 220 marked the first title fight in company history to end in a draw.
[autotag]Patricio Freire[/autotag] became the second simultaneous two-division champion in company history when he captured the lightweight title at Bellator 221.
Freire became the third fighter in company history to win titles in two weight classes, joining Bader and Warren in that exclusive club.
[autotag]Michael Chandler[/autotag] became the first in company history to suffer five losses in title fights when he was defeated at Bellator 221.
Kyoji Horiguchi
[autotag]Kyoji Horiguchi[/autotag] became the first fighter in history to earn titles in Bellator and Rizin FF when he won the Bellator bantamweight title at Bellator 222.
Bader became the first champion in company history to register title defenses in two weight classes when he retained his heavyweight belt at Bellator 226.
Freire set a new mark for most championship-fight victories in company history with his eighth when he won at Bellator 228.
[autotag]Douglas Lima[/autotag] became the second fighter in company history to have three title reigns in a single weight class when he reclaimed the welterweight belt at Bellator 232. Chandler also accomplished the feat.
[autotag]Ilima-Lei Macfarlane[/autotag] became the second champion in company history to earn four consecutive title defenses when she won at Bellator 236. Ben Askren also accomplished the feat.
INDIVIDUAL FEATS
Matt Mitrione vs. Sergei Kharitonov at Bellator 215
[autotag]Matt Mitrione[/autotag] vs. [autotag]Sergei Kharitonov[/autotag] at Bellator 215 marked the third shortest no-contest in Bellator/UFC/WEC/Strikeforce/PRIDE combined history at just 15 seconds. Only Marius Zaromskis vs. Waachim Spiritwolf (six seconds) at Strikeforce Challengers 12 and Kevin Casey vs. Antonio Carlos Junior (11 seconds) at UFC Fight Night 80 were faster.
[autotag]Michael Page[/autotag] became the second fighter in history to earn a 10-fight Bellator winning streak when he won at Bellator 216. A.J. McKee also accomplished the feat.
[autotag]David Rickels[/autotag] became the third fighter in history to reach 15 Bellator victories when he won at Bellator 219. Patricio Freire and Chandler have also accomplished the feat.
[autotag]Jordan Young[/autotag] became the first fighter in company history to earn five consecutive victories by submission when he won at Bellator 224.
[autotag]Aviv Gozali[/autotag], 18, became the youngest fighter to earn a Bellator victory when he won at Bellator 225.
Gozali’s 11-second victory at Bellator 225 marked the fastest submission in company history.
Patricio Freire
Freire set a new mark for most victories in company history with his 18th when he won at Bellator 228.
[autotag]Haim Gozali[/autotag], 46, became the oldest fighter in Bellator history to earn a submission victory when he won at Bellator 234.
[autotag]Frank Mir[/autotag] earned his first non-UFC victory since August 2001 when he won at Bellator 231.
Lima became the first fighter in company history to claim three separate tournaments victories when he won the welterweight grand prix at Bellator 232.
[autotag]Saad Awad[/autotag] became the first in history to suffer 10 Bellator defeats when he lost at Bellator 232.
[autotag]Patrick Mix[/autotag] earned the first Suloev stretch submission finish in company history when he won at Bellator 232.
[autotag]Muhammed Lawal[/autotag] retired from MMA competition following his loss at Bellator 233.
Ilima-Lei Macfarlane
Macfarlane became the third fighter in history to earn a 10-fight Bellator winning streak when she won at Bellator 236. Page and McKee also accomplished the feat.
McKee extended his company record winning streak to 16 fights when he earned a victory at Bellator 236.
McKee set a new record for most stoppages in featherweight history with his 11th when he won at Bellator 236.
Chandler set a new record for most stoppages in company history with his 12th when he won at Bellator 237.
Michael Chandler has provided a decade’s worth of fantastic finishes in Bellator.
Few fighters are more synonymous with Bellator MMA than [autotag]Michael Chandler[/autotag].
Why’s that? Well, for one thing, Chandler has been with the company since making his debut at Bellator 31 in 2010. And his epic pair of fights with Eddie Alvarez helped elevate the company’s profile and serve notice that the promotion is one worth watching and respecting. And he’s a three-time lightweight champion, and remains a solid bet to hold gold again sometime before he decides to call it a career.
Chandler is also known for his finishing ability: He’s got 15 stoppages among his 20th career victories, a number to which he added just recently, with his first-round KO of Sidney Outlaw at Bellator 237, which brought his KO/TKO total to eight.
And it’s that latter number on which we’re focusing here. Bellator MMA has put together a highlight reel of Chandler’s greatest hits spanning the past decade. Watch the video above to see the best of “Iron Michael.”
If you missed Fedor Emelianenko’s knockout of Quinton “Rampage” Jackson the first time around, here’s your chance to catch it.
Bellator put on it’s first-ever card in Japan on Saturday, bringing some of their biggest names to the iconic Saitama Super Arena just outside of Tokyo.
And what a night it was, as several of Bellator’s best brought their A-game to the venerated venue. [autotag]Goiti Yamauchi[/autotag], [autotag]Ilara Joanne[/autotag], [autotag]Lorenz Larkin[/autotag], [autotag]Michael Chandler[/autotag], and [autotag]Michael Page[/autotag] all put on great shows leading up to the fight which brought everyone to the house: The return of the legendary [autotag]Fedor Emelianenko[/autotag], who made short work of Quinton “Rampage” Jackson in a battle of former world champions.
Whether you missed the show the first time or watched it live and want to relive a night filled with slam-bang highlights, you can now watch the best moments from Bellator 237. Watch the video linked above.
