You see it from my area, from any area, really, so many who want to be great and have the drive, but don't have the resources. I'm very blessed that I have a family that was financially stable enough to get me to tournaments and camps and to practices so I could wrestle year-round.

Michael Chandler

Men Great Family

God has always opened up doors at the right time. He's closed doors at the right time.

Michael Chandler

Time God Ways

On my way to winning the title, it was great for me, but once I won the title, it was tough for me to get fights.

Michael Chandler

Great Won Winning

I'm a force to be reckoned with.

Michael Chandler

Wit T Reckoned

No matter where I've been or where I go, a piece of Missouri is always with me because this is where I'm from and where I grew up.

Michael Chandler

Wit Where Ways

If I had the opportunity to fight Khabib, or anyone ranked No. 1 - I've played that in my head a million times.

Michael Chandler

Time Unity Unit

I train my butt off every single day.

Michael Chandler

Very Train T

Life is too short and too sweet to complain about the silly things.

Michael Chandler

Life Too Things

Derek Campos is really tough.

Michael Chandler

Tough T Really

Brandon Girtz is a tough man who can really throw the leather, but I'm on a different level.

Michael Chandler

Who Tough Throw

I do have some unfinished business with Josh Thomson. I think that's a fight fans want to see, it's a fight Bellator wants, it's a fight I want.

Michael Chandler

Business Wit Wants

It's OK to have a little bit of pride in yourself.

Michael Chandler

Yourself Yours Your

There's still times I wish I could throw on the black and gold singlet and go out there in the Hearnes Center and wrestle for the Missouri Tigers. I miss that and I miss the stuff about college wrestling.

Michael Chandler

Time Wrestling Wrestle

I actually have a tattoo on the left side of my chest that says 'Blessed.' It represents how blessed I've been in my life and how thankful I am for all that I have.

Michael Chandler

Thankful Life Too

I just try to keep the main thing the main thing: getting my butt in the gym.

Michael Chandler

Us Try Tin

At first I thought, beer's nasty. Then I found IPAs. They're delicious.

Michael Chandler

Us UN Thought

I love collegiate wrestling but the thought of training for international stuff just didn't really appeal to me.

Michael Chandler

Love Wrestling Us

Letting emotion get into it isn't part of my game. Letting animosity or a rivalry come into it, that's all for the show.

Michael Chandler

Art Tin T

I knew I wanted to fight. It's a great way to continue competing and not to mention actually make money. You can make a career out of it.

Michael Chandler

Pet Money Men

Henri Hooft has made my hands and feet deadly weapons.

Michael Chandler

Weapons Weapon T

There are always a ton of different people to learn from and people that are pushing me to get better.

Michael Chandler

Ways Way Us

I want to build a brand that inspires as many people as I possibly can.

Michael Chandler

I eat about every three to four hours.

Michael Chandler

I built my name on fighting so hard - I'll always do that - but I'm also trying to become more of a veteran, to be be calm and calculated and not always trying to bowl people over.

Michael Chandler

Finishing a guy like Benson Henderson, who hasn't been finished since for six years, the guy doesn't get finished and I finished it with a switch-step switch to Southpaw, knocked him out with my left hand.

Michael Chandler

I've taken fights on short notice while injured to help save shows, and in return I've been taken care of.

Michael Chandler

I'm going to stash up my cash and invest in real estate. I want to be set up for the end of fighting.

Michael Chandler

I had so much growing up and I'm so thankful for all the people who invested in my life.

Michael Chandler

Benson Henderson is a guy that I fought before. He has two arms and two legs. He has certain patterns, mannerisms and tendencies that I know I can go out there and exploit.

Michael Chandler

If I could do this until I was 60, I would. This is a great life. All I do is train, all I do is work out, and prolong my life by the training that I'm doing, the things I have to do as professional athlete.

Michael Chandler

Not since 2011, when I stepped into the cage and fought Eddie Alvarez for the first time and was the extreme underdog - I've never quite had that feeling of a 10 since then.

Michael Chandler

It is not that hard to go out there and put on the performance of your life and beat any guy in the lightweight division on any given night.

Michael Chandler

I'm just getting better every single day and I want to be the best in the world.

Michael Chandler

For me, getting up is an inside job, but it has been hard stepping in the cage with guys who I've had to lose against and not a lot to gain.

Michael Chandler

Obviously, beating Alvarez was the first step to getting my name out there. Now people now know who I am and see, at least in some part, that I'm the real deal.

Michael Chandler

For as long as I can remember, our family has been huge Cardinals fans. My grandpa is a personal friend of Whitey Herzog's; they were neighbors for decades. Our love and support of the Cardinals definitely runs deep.

Michael Chandler

I don't want to just be a great fighter, but also a great man.

Michael Chandler

Life throws you curveballs and there are things that happen - you don't understand why they happened at the time. But then you step back and understand you're a better fighter and competitor because of the things that happened.

Michael Chandler

Bellator has taken care of me, and I've taken care of them. It's been the perfect storm of a symbiotic relationship - them having an asset they were not willing to lose, and me being in a situation where the grass isn't always greener on the other side.

Michael Chandler

I look after two people - my wife and my son.

Michael Chandler

Bellator wouldn't be who they are without my performances and Michael Chandler wouldn't be who he is without Bellator promoting him and us having a phenomenal symbiotic relationship.

Michael Chandler

I'm trying to be the best lightweight fighter in the world. That's my main objective. I just have to keep my head up, keep training and enjoy this awesome ride that I'm on.

Michael Chandler

I love Scott Coker and I love Bellator and I love what we have built together and it's a little uneasy to think that I will no longer be under contract with Bellator after I knock out Benson Henderson and get my hand raised.

Michael Chandler

I didn't have to fight. I chose to fight. I believe God put me on this Earth to be able to do this and do it at a high level.

Michael Chandler

The greatest thing about fighting a guy like Dave Rickels: He always comes to fight.

Michael Chandler

Everyone who has kids that you talk to tells you, 'Wait until you have kids. It's going to change you.' You're like, 'Nah, come on. How can it change you that much?' But it changes you so much.

Michael Chandler

I've had a phenomenal life. I have a phenomenal God that I serve. I have a phenomenal wife.

Michael Chandler

When you're wrestling, it's such an amazing sport. I love it. I loved that I came from that background.

Michael Chandler

You see it from my area, from any area, really, so many who want to be great and have the drive, but don't have the resources. I'm very blessed that I have a family that was financially stable enough to get me to tournaments and camps and to practices so I could wrestle year-round.

Michael Chandler

I'm not who I am without the organization of Bellator.

Michael Chandler

When people talk about the lightweight division they will probably mention my name a little bit. Whether they believe I don't deserve to be up there or I do, they are at least going to mention me.

Michael Chandler