Michael Chandler came out at Bellator 131 looking to win the Bellator lightweight belt back against Will Brooks and it was obvious from the opening bell that he was going to look to use pressure and not give Brooks the space to get off with his offense.
Brooks was still able to find ways to get in with strikes, avoiding Chandler’s takedown attempts and catching him with punches that had Chandler’s face marked up, swelling and bloody.
Brooks’ ability to not be put on his back was his best asset as it allowed him to pick his spots while Chandler continued to look to work his way toward the takedown. In fact, Brooks was able to score his own takedowns at times.
Suddenly, in the fourth round, Brooks landed a hard punch and Chandler moved backward, waiting his hands in an odd way (almost like he was waiving off the fight) while looking at the ref. Brooks followed in and landed a big barrage of strikes and referee Jason Herzog was forced to stop the bout.
Replays showed that the odd stoppage–which Chandler complained about–was completely correct. There were no fouls, Chandler just stopped defending himself as Brooks opened up with a huge combination.
Brooks is now cemented as Bellator’s top lightweight and it will be interesting to see what fights they line up for him going forward.