mma / News

Michael Chandler Expects To Return At Bellator 157

May 4, 2016 | Posted by Joseph Lee
Bellator MMA, Bellator 215 - Bellator 185 - Bellator 193 - Bellator 195 Kevin Ferguson Jr. Bellator 199 Javy Ayala Kate Jackson Daniel Weichel, Bellator 211, Bellator 214, Bellator 216, Juan Archuleta, Adel Altamimi

In an interview with MMA Junkie, Michael Chandler (14-3 MMA, 11-3 BMMA) revealed that he hopes to return to fight at Bellator 157. He was scheduled to fight Josh Thomson (22-8 MMA, 2-0 BMMA) at Bellator 154 on May 14, but Thomson was forced to back out. Here are highlights:

On hearing the news that his fight was cancelled: “My heart sunk all the way down to my toenails, because I’ve gotten that call four or five times in my career. It’s a crappy situation and you can’t do anything about it except keep smiling.”

On Thomson’s injury: “You see it all the time, and I’m not here to bash anybody, but if an injury is not severe enough to disclose, it sounds like it’s not severe enough to change the course of somebody’s life. The course of my life has changed. I should have 15 wins on my record in less than two weeks from now, and I should have a win over Josh Thomson, and things have changed because of an undisclosed injury. I don’t know how long he’s going to be out. Is it a little ankle tweak where he doesn’t quite feel 100 percent and maybe he feels 70 percent? But you’re talking to a guy who walked into the cage at about 10 percent and took a fight I probably never should have taken, and that’s just who I am.”

On when Chandler may fight again: “I think if I had to guess, it would make a lot of sense (to fight at Bellator 157). I’m ready to go. That St. Louis card, even though it’s St. Louis and it’s my hometown, that’s not my first choice. I don’t want to fight on that card. I wanted to fight May 14. I was going to go into enemy territory and fight Josh in his hometown, and I was willing to do that, and it’s not happening. So the next logical choice would be to put me on that St. Louis card and I’ll sell a bunch of tickets and smash somebody’s face. Hopefully, it’s Josh Thomson.”