411 MMA Interviews: Michael Chandler

Posted by Jeffrey Harris on 01.08.2012

411mania.com speaks with the undefeated Bellator Lightweight Champion Michael Chandler in an exclusive interview. Chandler gives his thoughts on his amazing year in 2011, winning the title, and his epic battle with Eddie Alvarez.

Last month while at the 2011 VGA's, I got the chance to catch up with the new Bellator Lightweight Champion, Michael Chandler (9-0, MMA; 6-0, BFC). Chandler had an amazing 2011, first running the Bellator lightweight tournament table where he defeated the favorite to win, Pitbull brother Patricky Freire. Chandler followed it up with an epic battle against the reigning champion Eddie Alvarez (22-3, MMA; 6-1, BFC). In a grueling back and forth war, Chandler was finally able to submit Alvarez in order to capture the Bellator lightweight strap. Chandler now looks on to a potentially even more exciting 2011 with Bellator moving into it's sixth season as well as to Friday nights:



Jeffrey Harris: How are you doing this evening?

Michael Chandler: Oh doing good. Just experienced my first Video Game Awards on Spike. It was really good, really fun. A lot of excitements, lots of stuff going on, so it's real fun.

Jeffrey Harris: People are saying your fight with Eddie Alvarez was the fight of the year, what do you think about that?

Michael Chandler: You know, I know we're in an awesome sport with a lot of great competitors. And there are some great fights. So just to be talked about as possible fight of the year candidate is awesome. I think it was a very, very good fight. It was back and forth. It was – it kind of had everything a fight of the year typically has so I mean you can't help but kind of almost put it in the running no matter what.

Jeffrey Harris: This has been an amazing year for you. First winning the lightweight tournament where the favorite was Patricky "Pitbull" Freire and now you are going to these award shows. A year ago, no one knew who you are. And now you're the champ. You won the tournament and you beat a guy a lot of people were saying was one of the best lightweights in the world. What's this like for you?

Michael Chandler: It's amazing. It's very, very cool. It's a little bit surreal, but at the same time as hard as I work and I feel like I make the right decisions and I feel like I'm a firm believer that I really do work harder than everybody else in the world. And I've kind of made this quick, two year climb to the top of Bellator now and I've said it before the sky's the limit. If you work hard and you're a good person, and I got great management; I got great people around me, so I mean this kind of stuff just comes along with the great success that I'm having.

Jeffrey Harris: How do you feel right now after that fight besides that elation in winning the title, like physically, how do you feel right now?

Michael Chandler: It was awesome.

Jeffrey Harris: It was a war.

Michael Chandler: It was definitely a war. My face felt like hamburger meat when I came back to the corner going back into the – after the third round. It was just awesome. I grew as a fighter. I'm definitely a better competitor because of that fight. And just the emotions, it was like a sigh of relief to see all my work come to pass, finally get the get belt around my waist which I've been waiting for so long, and I was just happy to take a step back and spend some time with the family. I let them enjoy the win and the belt and everything. It was just phenomenal.

Jeffrey Harris: It's great to be the champ, but now that you are the champ, they are going to have the tournaments and more guys will be coming after you. And now that Bellator has been acquired by Viacom, do you think the field in Bellator will get even more competitive? Do you have a feeling of, "oh now I really have to buckle down because now I got the bullseye on my chest?

Michael Chandler: No, I think I've had that buckle down mentality since the day I was born. I'm in this sport for one reason and that's to be the best and to make an impact. And that's what I'm working towards. I've been working my butt off as much as I possibly can since day one since I started training. So nothing is going to change. There is no added pressure because at the end of the day I know how much time I put in. I know who I'm surrounded by. I know my coaches, my training partners; they've gotten me to the point where I really don't feel like I can be beaten. That's the confidence that I go into the cage with, and I'm excited.

Jeffrey Harris: Was that weird interacting with a guy you fought and beat in a fight at the VGA's?

Michael Chandler: It wasn't as – I got the script last night and it said "Michael Chandler presenting with Eddie Alvarez." I called my manager up, "Randall, are you serious? Are we really presenting an award together?" So I figured it would be a little bit awkward, but it really wasn't. Eddie is a great guy. I've said it over and over. He's a great guy, a great competitor for our sport. So to actually interact with him tonight, there was no hostility. We had a good time, actually talked a little bit. I brought my manager with me. We all talked. He brought his brother who we kind of had some good conversations [with].

Jeffrey Harris: Do you see yourselves ever training together or not because Eddie could still be a potential competitor against you?

Michael Chandler: I mean like you said, this is a crazy sport. Guys train together all the time and possibly see that potential fighting down the road. I don't necessarily see myself training with him necessarily. I would be open to help him if the right situation happened and he needed help or whatever. This is a sport where I want to give as much as I receive, and the possibility of training with him could happen. It's less likely than it is likely I'd say.

Jeffrey Harris: You need to be a great athlete of tremendous skill and will to beat a guy like Eddie. Who do you credit to help you get to that level?

Michael Chandler: It sounds crazy but it starts at day one with my family growing up, and then my high school coaches, and then my college coaches, and now my coaches and training partners here. It's been a slow, steady climb to that title fight. And like I said, I have great management. I have a great team at Xtreme Couture and great coaches. I believe in them. I'll run through a brick wall for them. And I think that's – everybody that I'm training with right now, as well as my wrestling background at the University of Missouri, that's what got me to where I am.

Jeffrey Harris: Do you want to fight in a nontitle fight before you defend the belt again to keep the skills sharp?

Michael Chandler: I mean yeah. If you look at the timeline, yeah I mean fighting somebody after that timeline; we're looking at eight, nine months. I mean that's a long time. So I would love to get a fight in. But obviously my job is to train and fight. And my management, they know what they're doing. They take care of that stuff, and obviously Bjorn [Rebney] has told me he wants to keep me active. I would hope to think that is in their best interest because I really like I'm a guy who trains hard and goes out there and puts on exciting fights.

Jeffrey Harris: Any sponsors or people you would like to thank or give a shout out to?

Michael Chandler: Yeah I always want to thank my manager, Randall Allman, everyone at Xtreme Couture: Gil Martinez; Neil Melanson. Mom and Dad. Clinch Gear. MTX Audio. Hi-Tech Pharmaceuticals. And Ken Luster. And to the fans, thank you for the support. I appreciate it. And I promise to always work harder.

Jeffrey Harris: And Bellator season six moves to Friday's in 2012.

Michael Chandler: Great move. Great move, so I'm excited about that.



Thank you to Michael Chandler for taking the time to speak with us. Bellator Fighting Championships returns in March on MTV2 with Bellator 60 and will now be broadcast live on Friday evenings instead of Saturday.