Did Bellator mess up in letting Chandler go?

[careto]

Thread says it all. Chandler said numerous times that he wanted to re-sign and was waiting for Bellator to make the offer.

I think Chandler ran his course in Bellator and there werent many options for him left in the company. But after his last two performances he has proven to be top 5 -10 in the world and Bellator's LW division could use someone like him.

On the other hand, Chandler's success proves Bellator's roster is more competent than most people give them credit for. Also, this makes the Pitbull TKO look even more impressive, it only rises Pitbull stock more.

 

[kingcillo24]

Chandler is a Bellator Ambassador now, so he may be doing more good for them by fighting in the UFC.

 

[KeeSmyth]

There were zero fights for him at LW in Bellator that would raise his stock, the division is in rebuild mode. I'm happy to see Chandler make his run in UFC where he can silence all his critics. Style wise Dan Hooker was a horrible match up for Chandler, we saw in Brooks fight Chandler can struggle with length and closing the distance. Hope to see him fight for title or have #1 contender match next.

 

[Phrozenspite]

Chandler is a Bellator Ambassador now, so he may be doing more good for them by fighting in the UFC.

agreed. he did everything that he could've in bellator. They only stand to gain if he makes a title run, because then they'll be able to point to a homegrown talent doing it in addition to eddie.

 

[tehMoose]

It was a good move by Bellator

UFC gave Chandler his toughest match up in that division and he murked him easily. At least people can see now that Bellator has legit fighters.

I've been saying for years that some of the Bellator guys can come to UFC and become champ or top 5 easily. Now they have a bunch of elite fighters in Bellator not just a few and they have better prospects than UFC also.

 

[Kingz]

No. It’s not a big deal. I mean it’s always good to keep top guys but he’s fought all the veterans in the division and the guy he lost his belt to wasn’t going to be a regular at LW anyway which is why there was never any talk of a Chandler-Pitbull rematch. The division is depleted now, so they need new blood and don’t need Chandler at this juncture.

10 years and 23 fights is a good run. A change of scenery made sense. He lost the title but was able to leave on a couple of good wins. Nobody is holding the bag. Chandler might have another good run in him after all.

 

[Wrestler160]

Chandler had a very good UFC debut compared to his other fellow Bellator colleagues who went into the UFC.

 

[GueseGuy]

I don’t believe so. This played out perfectly for them. To the casuals, he is carrying the bellator name right now. The further he goes, he brings the Bellator name with him.

 

[Hellowhosthat]

Nah, this made them look great really.

The one thing I did find surprising though was how often Anik, Buffer and even the fight keys referred to Bellator by name, which is something I can't recall happening before.

 

[ExitLUPin]

Who said Bellator had a say? Chandler seemed like he wanted to make the move finally and he was a free agent

 

[Yrat]

Thread says it all. Chandler said numerous times that he wanted to re-sign and was waiting for Bellator to make the offer.

I think Chandler ran his course in Bellator and there werent many options for him left in the company. But after his last two performances he has proven to be top 5 -10 in the world and Bellator's LW division could use someone like him.

On the other hand, Chandler's success proves Bellator's roster is more competent than most people give them credit for. Also, this makes the Pitbull TKO look even more impressive, it only rises Pitbull stock more.

I really hope he win get the belt somehow in Ufc and especially if he will tko Khabib

Apparently Bellator seems not to like to build up fighters who have talents. Only Dada 5000, Tito Ortiz and Fedor Emelianenko will have a big part of Bellators marketing

 

[Falconkick]

Nah, this made them look great really.

The one thing I did find surprising though was how often Anik, Buffer and even the fight keys referred to Bellator by name, which is something I can't recall happening before.

Almost like when they mentioned strikeforce more cause they bought it?

 

[Hellowhosthat]

Almost like when they mentioned strikeforce more cause they bought it?

Yeah it was weird, I just can't see them buying Bellator though as the roster is pretty full as it is and a bunch of fighters there are ones they let go there.

It was just something I noticed they were doing which I hadn't noticed before.

 

[NoBiasJustMMA]

No, I think Bellator looks much better now, their former 2 time LW champion that lost to their current FW and LW double champion just ran through a top 5 LW that went to a very close decision with Dustin who's currently their best LW.

Bellator's LW division is also a bit stale and Chandler's fought all their best that I can think of, it was a good time for him to go and him winning makes Bellator look better in the eyes of casual fans.

 

[NoBiasJustMMA]

Who said Bellator had a say? Chandler seemed like he wanted to make the move finally and he was a free agent

I have also heard the UFC's offer was not the highest offer in terms of salary.

 

[careto]

Chandler is a Bellator Ambassador now, so he may be doing more good for them by fighting in the UFC.

Nah, this made them look great really.

The one thing I did find surprising though was how often Anik, Buffer and even the fight keys referred to Bellator by name, which is something I can't recall happening before.

Yes, but at the same time Chandler isnt fighting to prove Bellator fighters are better or anything like that, he is out to look for himself. You could even see in the press conference he was very dismissive of his previous accomplishments, kind of implying that being a UFC fighter is all that matters to him. I understand he fights for the UFC now, so he has to sell the idea of being a UFC fighter but he also kind of seemed bitter towards Bellator.

On a side note, Chandler was all smiles until some Brazilian reporter asked him about Pitbull LMAO, his smiled faded very quickly and he got very serious. TBH, that was such an asshole thing to ask a guy who is so happy about his UFC debut, to ask him about getting KO'd by Pitbull.

 

[careto]

Almost like when they mentioned strikeforce more cause they bought it?

Yeah it was weird, I just can't see them buying Bellator though as the roster is pretty full as it is and a bunch of fighters there are ones they let go there.

It was just something I noticed they were doing which I hadn't noticed before.

With that monopoly lawsuit going on against the UFC I dont think is in their best interests to swallow up their closest competitor. If they did swallow up Bellator they would really become a monopoly. I believe one of their arguments against the lawsuit is that Bellator exists as a competitor to the UFC.

The UFC should have kept PRIDE and Strikeforce as separate entities still operated by Zuffa. Strikeforce could have worked as the feeder org and PRIDE to maintain the Asian market open.

 

[careto]

I have also heard the UFC's offer was not the highest offer in terms of salary.

Josh Thomson kind of implied that Chandler is making less money in the UFC than in Bellator but that Bellator wasnt interested in re-signing him or matching the UFC offer either. Thomson is an openly Chandler hater so IDK how reliable he is.

 

[NoBiasJustMMA]

With that monopoly lawsuit going on against the UFC I dont think is in their best interests to swallow up their closest competitor. If they did swallow up Bellator they would really become a monopoly. I believe one of their arguments against the lawsuit is that Bellator exists as a competitor to the UFC.

The UFC should have kept PRIDE and Strikeforce as separate entities still operated by Zuffa. Strikeforce could have worked as the feeder org and PRIDE to maintain the Asian market open.

That would have been cool have Strikeforce and WEC as feeder leagues and have UFC and Pride as the premier leagues with different rule sets, then do like 1-3 cross over events a year of UFC vs Pride.

 

[NoBiasJustMMA]

Josh Thomson kind of implied that Chandler is making less money in the UFC than in Bellator but that Bellator wasnt interested in re-signing him or matching the UFC offer either. Thomson is an openly Chandler hater so IDK how reliable he is.

I think it was Burns that said the offer from the UFC wasn't the best one Chandler got. At least that is who I remember hearing said it, didn't know Thomson said it as well though.