With Bellator granting Will Brooks an outright release, their Lightweight Championship is once again vacant. That won’t be for long, as they announced Saturday night that Michael Chandler and Patricky “Pitbull” Freire will compete for that belt next month in St. Louis at Bellator “Dynamite 2.”
Chandler gets another crack at the belt despite three consecutive losses to the last two men to hold and vacate that belt: Brooks and Eddie Alvarez. He’s won two straight fights since that streak, beating Derek Campos and David Rickels in his two fights in 2015.
He now gets his third straight fight in his home state, while Freire has won three of four fights into this Lightweight Title fight. That includes a KO win over Ryan Couture and a decision over Kevin Souza in 2016.
Bellator’s “Dynamite 2” card airs live on Spike on June 24 from the Scottrade Center, headlined by Quinton “Rampage” Jackson’s return to the Bellator cage against Satoshi Ishii.
Penick’s Analysis: Bellator’s Lightweight Title is a completely meaningless belt at this point. This booking comes off as a blatant attempt to have Chandler be their face of the division by ridding themselves of the men who beat him. Not only that, but they under-promoted Brooks to the point he was extremely disgruntled and wanted out while Chandler gets his third straight fight in front of a home state crowd. It’s blatant, it’s transparent, and it undermines the division.
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Ugh…Benson Henderson? You don’t realize that Benson Henderson be fighting back in the Lightweight division, easily making him the biggest star of that division (not Chandler)??? Or did you not know that Benson fights for Bellator?
Come’on, do a little reporting and get your facts straight.
Mentioning Henderson in the context of this booking isn’t necessary. I wasn’t calling Chandler their biggest lightweight star, the point is that them booking this fight – in St. Louis – after releasing Brooks comes off as a transparent attempt to put Chandler in that spot. That Henderson is likely to come down in the future doesn’t play into that point whatsoever.
Stop being an anonymous asshole on the internet, Pete. I know you can’t help it, but try.