Michael Chandler: Match With Will Brooks ‘The Cards I’ve Been Dealt’
Back in November Michael Chandler suffered the first setback of his career when he lost his lightweight title to Eddie Alvarez, the man he took it off, in one of the closest fights of 2013.
The Team Alliance-trained fighter had the opportunity to avenge his only loss tonight in the main event of Bellator 120 which will be the promotions first ever pay-per-view. But, an unfortunate sparring session last week resulted in Alvarez getting a concussion and having to drop out of the matchup.
The news was a big blow for Chandler who was eager to reclaim his old title but he will still compete on the PPV as he will now face Bellator’s season 9 lightweight tournament winner; Will Brooks. The former champion isn’t making to much of a fuss about the change-up, he’s just thankful to have had a great training camp making him well prepared for tonight’s matchup.
“At the end of the day it’s where the chips fell and the cards I’ve been dealt.” Chandler said in a recent interview with MMAMania.com. “Luckily I had a great training camp and I was training for a great fighter in Alvarez and I’m prepared. Will Brooks is young and hungry and he has a great opportunity on his hands, so will see what he makes of it on Saturday night.”
The 28-year old knows Brooks has managed to dominate the majority of his opponents using his wrestling but he says that will not work on him. Chandler isn’t sure about what his opposition is going to do come fight time, he just hopes he can make the adjustments to get a finish.
“I think he has wrestled a lot of guys,” Chandler said. “Obviously that’s not going to work on me, but I think he has wrestled a lot of guys and he gets on top with that control game. We will see what he brings to the table on Saturday night.
Hopefully, I can just make the adjustments and go out there and finish the fight. He is a young, and he is a strong, athletic guy. He trains at ATT, so he should prepared and I’m just excited to do it.”
If Chandler does manage to pick up the thirteenth win of his career, his trilogy with Alvarez surely await him. He needs to get past Brooks first, however, who will be looking to shock the world in the biggest fight of his career.
Can anyone see Chandler having any trouble?
