Ex-Bellator champ Michael Chandler not dwelling on controversial loss

Fighting is the last thing on Michael Chandler‘s mind, especially when it comes to his most recent bout.

Monday on MMAjunkie Radio, Chandler sidestepped questions about his immediate future and said he’d rather focus on rest and relaxation than on getting back into the cage.

“Shoot, man, I want to frickin’ hang out here in Missouri and watch the leaves change and go to a Mizzou football game and wrestle with the guys,” he said.

After competing in one of the best fights of the year in a rematch with Eddie Alvarez, Chandler, who suffered the first loss of his career and surrendered his lightweight title at Bellator 106, went to Mexico for five days and hasn’t watched his work since.

A rubber match appears to be on the table for the two, and it could even take place on pay-per-view, but Chandler isn’t committing to anything when it comes to his next challenge.

“I’m a fighter, that’s my job,” he said. “Whoever it is, whenever it is, whatever the best-case scenario, that’s what I want to do.”

Chandler (12-1 MMA, 9-1 BMMA) and Alvarez (25-3 MMA, 10-1 BMMA) became the headliners of the Nov. 2 event after Tito Ortiz was forced to withdraw from a fight with Quinton Jackson, and Bellator scrapped plans to put the card on PPV. The replacement main event more than delivered when the lightweights fought back and forth for five rounds before judges declared Alvarez the winner via split decision.

Alvarez avenged a submission loss to Chandler in 2011 that stripped him of the Bellator lightweight title.

The event, which took place at Long Beach Arena in California, drew record ratings for the promotion on Spike TV. While they came at Chandler’s expense, he’s taken the loss in stride.

“I always say losses are going to happen,” he said. “You never expect them to happen. I always take pride in training hard and putting myself in the best situation possible and being disciplined enough to hopefully never have to lose.

“It does stink that I’m not undefeated any more. It was great while it lasted, but it’s more about what my fight career means. It’s not about having a great record. It’s more about doing the right things and getting as much as I can out of this sport, and the wins and losses are going to take care of themselves.”

Chandler missed the event’s post-fight press conference because he was being treated by doctors for a cut on his face. His left eye swelled shut during the fight, but he downplayed the severity of the injuries. He did, however, express some frustration that at his face’s tendency to show damage.

“I think it was all just superficial, cuts and swelling, which I’ve got to figure something out,” he said. “I was definitely taking some damage, but my face has a tendency to swell immediately. I was getting hit with jabs, and Eddie hits hard, but I wasn’t even getting hit with his hardest shots at all. I was just getting hit with jabs, and that left eye was swelling.”

Some observers said the swelling might have been exacerbated by a clash of the heads, for which Alvarez was warned by referee John McCarthy. Chandler, though, doesn’t remember them.

“I did hear from numerous people that that was happening,” he said. “I do remember ‘Big’ John saying, ‘Eddie, watch the headbutts,’ because he has a tendency to drop his head, whether he is dropping his head to go for a shot or to bob and weave.

“We definitely hit heads a couple of times. I can’t tell you whether or not that had to do with the swelling. I haven’t seen the fight, so I can’t lay blame on Eddie. If it was my fault, I apologize for that because I didn’t do that stuff intentionally.”

Afterward, Chandler said the two shared a look of disbelief at the amount of violence they shared inside the cage. As to whether he won the fight or not, he wants to watch it and decide for himself.

“I’ve had a very large, overwhelming amount of people say that the decision could have went my way,” he said. “I’m ready to watch it for myself to figured what I think. But at the end of the day, it doesn’t matter. Time to get back to work and focus on my next fight.”

But that’s more of an idea than an action item for the former champ, who went into training for Alvarez three weeks after a 16-week camp elongated by the injury withdrawal of Dave Jansen (he knocked out replacement David Rickels in July).

“I can’t express the amount of love that I felt through Twitter and text messages,” Chandler said. “You really find out how much support you have when you go through something like this. For me, it’s been a great experience, knowing there’s a support system and there’s great people around me.

“You guys think what you want to think (about the fight), but me, all I’m worrying about is relaxing and giving you guys a better show next time.”

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