https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HziG9DBfJf0 Weightclass: Lightweight He's the poster boy for the company, having been pushed heavily, signed to a lucrative contract, and promoted in Dave & Buster's commercials that tie in with Bellator Friday Nights. He's also the man who took Eddie Alvarez's title, shocking the world. Alvarez, at the time (and possibly still), was considered to be the best lightweight outside of the UFC. Then Michael Chandler put his name in the running, by beating Alvarez in their first meeting, a potential fight of the year bout in 2011. They would meet again in 2013 (the gap being due to circumstances I'll get to later), and Alvarez would win his belt back in what was possibly the fight of the year for 2013 as well. Before that meeting, however, Chandler had been dominant, defeating Akihiro Gono, Rick Hawn, and David Rickels (the Gono bout was a non-title affair). Chandler, as mentioned, was the poster boy for Bellator MMA, a guy any organization would want, easily top 10 in the world, and even after losing the belt back to Alvarez, banked on by the promotion to win their rubber match. Then the unthinkable happened, and Chandler lost an interim title bout to Will Brooks after Alvarez was injured leading up to their third fight. Chandler looked sloppy in the fight, but lets not take away from Brooks. Still, Chandler has only those two losses on his record, and he's a legit top talent in the lightweight division. His next fight is crucial; expect him to come out strong.
Primarily covering the sport of MMA from Ontario, Canada, Jay Anderson has been writing for various publications covering sports, technology, and pop culture since 2001. Jay holds an Honours Bachelor of Arts degree in English from the University of Guelph, and a Certificate in Leadership Skills from Humber College.