Bellator has been getting itself a little more respect over the past little while.
Sure, you have Tito Ortiz and Chael Sonnen exchanging cringeworthy barbs in the name of selling a fight no one asked for, but for every promo they put out, there’s a Rory MacDonald signing or a Phil Davis title win to remind you they do some nice competitive things as well.
Saturday night at Bellator 165, another one of those things will take place in the form of a bout between former UFC champion Benson Henderson and Bellator lightweight champion Michael Chandler—about as close as the promotion can get to a superfight.
And the star is Chandler.
That may come as a shock to many, but the reality is that Henderson is dangerously straddling the line between relevant and has-been after a fairly underwhelming run since signing with Bellator last year. While he’s coming off a win, it was nothing special, and he’s lost three of his last six contests after losing three of his previous 24—an alarming drop-off for a man many felt to be one of the best lightweights in history as recently as 2013.
Chandler, on the other hand, has put up three straight stoppages and has only ever lost to elite competitors in the form of Eddie Alvarez and Will Brooks (twice). Only Brooks, in their second meeting, has ever stopped Chandler, and he’s continually shown evolution in his career, going from a scrappy wrestler to a well-rounded athlete relying as much on power and boxing as on his ability to take a fight to the ground.
Work hard in silence, Let success be your noise.. @MikeChandlerMMA @bellatormma #champion #bellator165 pic.twitter.com/ttwoTdWTT5
— Courtney Henderson (@CourtneyHendo_) November 16, 2016
Saturday will also mark the fifth anniversary of the night that Chandler broadly entered the public consciousness for the first time, that being the night he stopped Alvarez in their first meeting in one of the greatest bouts mixed martial arts has ever seen. Both men gave and took as much as humanly possible, and it was Chandler who came out on top, using the fight as a springboard into conversations about the best lightweights on the planet.
Considering Alvarez went on to hold UFC gold and Chandler didn’t lose for two years after that (incidentally in a rematch between the two), that was a career-defining accomplishment in itself. Yet going into Saturday, he finds himself with a chance to define his career even further.
He’s in his prime, coming of age with a slickness and technicality that wasn’t as evident in his early days.
People know who Henderson is, and they know him as a former champion of the biggest promotion in the sport. A win over him would mean something in a way no other win would.
Bellator itself is in a place where it’s attempting to expand its reach and attract bigger names and more attention. Having its premier homegrown talent take a former UFC star to the woodshed at a major event would certainly help with that.
For a long time, those who have followed Bellator have known that Chandler is the best thing the promotion has ever produced from within. If he were a UFC athlete, he’d have been hot on the heels of a trilogy fight with Alvarez, and with Conor McGregor now holding the strap, he’d be in the mix with guys like Tony Ferguson and Khabib Nurmagomedov.
He’s the real deal, the type of elite talent Bellator perhaps hasn’t produced as readily as it would've liked but who continually leaves no doubt as to his ability when he steps in the cage. Chandler, Alvarez and Brooks are the only ones to have held the promotion's lightweight title since its inception seven years ago, which speaks to his consistency at the top of the 155-pound heap.
Saturday night, he’ll get the chance to show the world just how great he is in a fight against the biggest name he’s ever been matched with. He’ll carry the banner for his own greatness and for the competitive excellence of the promotion that fostered his career.
Beat Henderson, and more people than ever will take notice.
