Issue 145

September 2016

Michael Chandler on regaining Bellator gold, calling out Benson Henderson, and running Eddie Alvarez out of town.

It took a revitalized Michael Chandler little more than two minutes to reclaim the Bellator lightweight championship. A thunderous right hand knocked Patricky Freire out cold at the Dynamite 2 card in June to earn him his third straight stoppage win and re-establish himself as one of the world’s elite lightweights. He tells Fighters Only that his success is down to his move to a new gym in Florida, and he’s now ready to defend his strap against some of his promotion’s most high-profile acquisitions. 

Have you settled into life training at Blackzilians? 

Yeah, I’m really enjoying it. I moved to be with my coach Neil Melanson, who I’ve been with longer than anybody else in my career. So I came down here, and find myself in a situation where the striking coach, Henri Hooft, is great, the jiu-jitsu coach is great, the wrestling coach, Greg Jones, is excellent and there’s a really talented roster of guys here who are competing in a great atmosphere. I moved down here because of my coach, but I’ve benefitted from so much more.

Why did you move your training camp to Florida? 

I could be happy training in a shoebox in Alaska as long as there are good facilities and good people around me. I was put in this sport to be a champion and do great things. When I’m in an environment where I’m not being challenged every day, a place which isn’t pushing me both mentally and physically, then I’m really not doing myself justice and making the most of the gifts I’ve been given. I had to make the camp change and it’s all fallen into place.

Did the move reinvigorate your career at the right time? 

Absolutely. I’m a better fighter today than I’ve ever been, and a considerable reason for that is moving to Florida. So, yeah, actually I have been reinvigorated. I’ve had a fire lit under my hind parts since coming here and I think fans got to see what I’m truly capable of when I’m 100% ready.

Did your time at Blackzilians cross over with old foe Eddie Alvarez before he moved back to Philadelphia? 

He was here and I showed up and said, ‘Get the heck out of the gym.’ He left and hopped on a place to Philly. No, actually, back in November or December after the David Rickels fight, I actually came out here for a week to train with Frankie Edgar as he prepared to fight (Chad) Mendes. One day I showed up to sparring and who was sitting in the parking lot? Eddie Alvarez. We almost had to finish the trilogy right there in the parking lot. 

Me and Eddie actually have a pretty good relationship. I have more respect for that guy than anybody else in this sport. When you’ve beaten the crap out of each other and put on that good of a show for the fans, then you can’t help but really feel like you are connected. And when all is said and done, whether we fight for that third time or not, I can see us having a little friendship. But he definitely made the change right before I came down here. So it really was just a matter of circumstances. It would have been really interesting to train with him, though.

What did you learn from the three consecutive defeats you suffered? 

I got into this sport and won my first 12 fights – 10 of those were finishes and seven were in the first round. So I had this completely dominant career with so much momentum. Then I had the rematch with Eddie and I was putting myself under so much pressure to be perfect. It would show in my training and I would get so mad at myself that I’d really be down on myself and think so many negative thoughts because I was trying to be perfect. 

But I just had my 30th birthday and I’ve accepted it will never be perfect. Those losses are going to be on my record forever and there’s nothing I can do about it. But what I can do is focus on my next fight, focus on defending this belt as many times as I can. I’ve taken a weight off my shoulders, I’m enjoying myself and results have shown that.

What’s your take on the free-agency business?

I love it. It’s great. Competition is great for the fighters. At the end of the day I love Bellator and what they’ve done, but I wouldn’t have signed my last contract if it wasn’t a great contract and I didn’t have faith in the promotion. I signed it because it’s a phenomenal deal and a phenomenal contract. Had I not felt that I would have tested the free waters. And I think all fighters should. And hopefully you’re going to see more and more of that. It might not be great for the promoter, but I know Bellator understands it. 

Their slogan right now is ‘fighters first’ and you can’t have that slogan without allowing fighters to go and test the free waters. At the end of the day most fighters are just out there trying to provide for their families, so in by looking at free agency then hopefully their pay and purses and sponsorships and everything will be worth it. We get kicked and punched in the head every day for entertainment, for the millions of people watching at home and we run the risk of getting seriously injured or hugely embarrassed and humiliated on TV. It’s also the hundreds of sparring rounds nobody sees – so we deserve to make a lot of money. 

Do you expect to fight Josh Thomson and Benson Henderson – free agents who joined Bellator from the UFC? 

I sure hope so. I say this with the most respect, but I truly want a fight with Josh Thomson to happen for the fans who got let down last time. It needs to happen for Bellator. They invested in him coming over here to make big fights. And I want it for him. He wants to build his own legacy so he needs to be in title fights. So I just hope his head or his neck injury clears up and he’s able to return to compete. Ben Henderson as well. He’s not getting out of this promotion without fighting me either. Both those guys are on my radar for sure. Those are the fights people want to see and both those guys have the track record and resume to be able to fight for the title. So I’m excited.

Were you secretly happy Henderson didn’t win the 170lb title so he might move back to lightweight and face you now?

I was going to call him out either way. And if I had to go up to welterweight myself to fight him I was, and am, prepared to do that because it’s about the person, not the weight class. The UFC can call Conor McGregor a welterweight as much as they like. But really he’s a 145’er, fighting a 155’er up at 170. So if you fight Ben Henderson at 170, 155 or in a parking lot at catchweight, it doesn’t matter – you’re fighting Ben Henderson. So me and Benson fighting is just a matter of time.

New tricks 

How did your training at Blackzilians pay off against Pitbull?  

I was keen to show that Hooft striking style combined with the Melanson grappling. That was the key for me coming away with the belt.

Done In One: First-round finish rate

Of Michael Chandler’s 15 career wins, 13 have come via stoppage and nine were in the first round. That gives Michael Chandler a lethal 69% first-round finish rate – which is second only to UFC standout Khabib Nurmagomedov (73%) among MMA’s 155lb elite.