Sherdog’s Top 10: Greatest Bellator MMA Fighters

2. Michael Chandler

Sadly, Chandler only started getting the attention he deserved when he was already past his prime. Joining the UFC at the age of 34, he debuted with a sensational knockout of Top 10 contender Dan Hooker, one fight removed from Hooker badly dominating Dustin Poirier for the first two rounds. He then came within a whisker of knocking out Charles Oliveira in the first round to win the UFC lightweight championship, scored a spectacular knockout over another faded legend in Tony Ferguson, then lost the “Fight of the Year” for 2021 and 2022 respectively to Justin Gaethje and Poirier. But Chandler's real prime, when he was truly at his best, with a tougher chin and much better cardio, occurred in Bellator, where he fought for a full decade. He has a superb record in the promotion of 18-5 against a slew of excellent foes, which is even more impressive when you consider that two of those losses were split decision robberies and one was a freak injury. He is a three-time Bellator lightweight king with four title defenses. In terms of ability, a prime Chandler had great wrestling, some of the best ground-and-pound in the sport, suffocating top control and plenty of submissions from the top, but the striking is where he really shined, with some of the fastest, most accurate and powerful punches and kicks in the sport. They were on a completely different level than anyone else in the opening round of a fight, which is where the fearsome “Round 1 Chandler” meme originates. However, as noted, Chandler then had significantly better cardio and a much sturdier chin, two flaws responsible for his defeats in his mid-30s.

Chandler began his Bellator career 9-0, including a first round submission of Marcin Held, a dominant decision over future lightweight champion Patricky Freire, winning one of the greatest fights in MMA history over future UFC lightweight champion Eddie Alvarez via fourth-round stoppage, choking out Rick Hawn in the second and needing less than a minute each to knock out Akihiro Gono and Dave Rickels. Chandler then suffered the first loss of his career in a rematch against Alvarez, a highly controversial split decision most people scored for him. The bad luck continued in his very next outing, where Chandler again lost via split decision, this time to Will Brooks, in a bout almost every observer had as either a draw or Chandler victory. A rematch with Brooks followed and Chandler suffered the first decisive loss of his career, being stopped with punches in the fourth round. Chandler was far from done though, destroying Derek Campos and Rickels a second time before recording one of the most gorgeous knockouts against “Patricky Pitbull” in Round 1 to regain the lightweight title. He then mauled recent UFC lightweight champion Benson Henderson for five rounds, despite one cageside judge who scored the fight for Henderson. Chandler again suffered some bad luck against undefeated challenger Brent Primus when his foot gave out early in the first round. Chandler then dominated the outstanding and skilled Goiti Yamauchi, submitted Brandon Girtz in the first, and then pounded the stuffing out of Primus for 25 minutes in a rematch for his third tenure as Bellator lightweight king. Alas, it didn't last long, as featherweight kingpin Patricio Freire moved up a weight class and took revenge on behalf of his older brother, knocking out Chandler in 61 seconds. Chandler would close out his Bellator career in style, first garnering a brutal first-round knockout of Sidney Outlaw and then an even more emphatic victory over Henderson in their second meeting, bludgeoning him with punches in less than half a round. It's a superlative career with numerous huge victories by brilliant knockouts or submissions, a record three different title reigns and several all-time great fights over an entire decade in Bellator. And yet, there is one man who was and is even more impressive.

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