![]() 1 divisional ranking.Īfter losing such a high-profile bout against Freire, and in the manner in which he did, Chandler's stock took a hit. He was a three-time champ with multiple title defenses, but because he couldn't face the highly ranked lightweights of the UFC, his potential was capped. He lost his Bellator title via knockout in a fight that lasted just 61 seconds, waved off after Freire dropped him with a clean right hand.įor years, Chandler had been viewed as a big fish in the small pond that was Bellator's 155-pound division. But when it ended the way it did, I just went back to that conversation, and I was at peace."Ĭhandler suffered the worst loss of his career that night. "During that fight, the emotions were the same. And I never would have said this to him, but I knew it, too. "And he still said some of that, but I heard it in his voice that something was off. We're going to take care of this and go off on a trip after,'" Brie said. "Usually, he'll make a quick call and say, 'I love you. She didn't understand it any more than he did, but whatever Chandler was feeling in that moment, she did, too. "I told her, 'I just want you to know that no matter what happens, God's got us, the best is yet to come and we have to be at peace in the midst of anything that happens tonight.'"Ĭhandler never said a word about losing, but Brie picked it up. I get really emotional thinking about it because I believe I knew I was going to lose that fight," Chandler told ESPN. He told Brie that he loved her and that whatever happened in his title fight that night against Patricio "Pitbull" Freire, everything would be fine. And for reasons he couldn't explain at the time, he started to cry.Ĭhandler, who was the Bellator MMA lightweight champion at the time, immediately stopped warming up and called his wife. ON MAY 11, 2019, Michael Chandler was warming up in a locker room inside Allstate Arena in Rosemont, Illinois, when he suddenly had a vision of his wife, Brie, sitting by herself on the edge of the bed in their Chicago hotel room. UFC 262: How a tearful night and KO loss led Michael Chandler to a UFC title shot You have reached a degraded version of because you're using an unsupported version of Internet Explorer.įor a complete experience, please upgrade or use a supported browser ![]()
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