Former Bellator MMA Lightweight Champion Michael Chandler lost the gold to Patricio Pitbull in the main event of Bellator 221.
A defeated Chandler is demanding a rematch with Pitbull, claiming that the main event bout was stopped too early.
“I’m the fighter,” Chandler told MMA Junkie. “The promoters will promote. I think you’re going to see an overwhelming majority of people that are going to want to see a rematch. I think Bellator’s probably going to want to see a rematch. Of course I want the rematch. Whether you’re in the camp that thinks it was an early stoppage or not, I’m not going to sit up here and rant and rave about all of that. You could’ve had 10,000 different refs in there and had it go 10,000 different ways or on the other side. … Patricio ‘Pitbull’ will step back in the cage with me, it’s just a matter of when.”
The win was a historical one for Pitbull, who became the first fighter in Bellator history to hold two titles simultaneously.
Chandler says despite the rivalry between himself and Pitbull, one thing Pitbull did after the bout was show him respect.
“This is one of those moments – whether I’ve said what I’ve said about him or not, or he’s said what he’s said about me, the goodness of the human spirit was also shown in that moment,” Chandler said. “He came over, ticked off, ready to spit, cuss, point, ready to really kind of get after it. Then all of a sudden you saw it hit him, and he came in like a sportsman. … He came in hot like he was about to say something like, ‘I told you so,’ in-your-face type of thing. But the human spirit took over right there, and he came up and said congrats, which is much easier to do when you win.”
There has been no response at this time from Pitbull as to whether or not he would accept a rematch from Chandler.
