Despite four years in UFC, Michael Chandler still holds a rare Bellator record: Revisiting major stats of the now-defunct promotion

UFC lightweight Michael Chandler still holds a rare Bellator record despite having departed the promotion years ago. A few intriguing statistics have come to the fore amid discussions about the now-defunct Bellator MMA organization.

The PFL acquired Bellator in 2023, and the PFL-owned Bellator's final event transpired on Sept. 14, 2024. Multiple Bellator-branded events scheduled for late 2024 were canceled. As reported by ESPN, in January 2025, PFL co-founder Donn Davis asserted that the PFL wouldn't promote events under the Bellator banner anymore, implying that it was shut down and absorbed into the PFL.

During his time in Bellator, Chandler had three separate title reigns as the Bellator lightweight champion. 'Iron' made his promotional debut in September 2010 and competed in his final fight in that organization in August 2020. He then made his UFC promotional debut in January 2021 and has competed in the UFC ever since.

As reported by MMA Junkie, despite having spent four years in the UFC, Chandler still holds a major Bellator record. Chandler has the highest number of title fight losses (5). He shares that record of most Bellator title fight losses with former three-time Bellator welterweight champion Douglas Lima.

A few other notable Bellator stats are: the most fights (Patricio Freire, 30), most title fights (Patricio Freire, 18), most wins (Patricio Freire, 24), most title fight wins (Patricio Freire, 15), longest win streak (A.J. McKee, 18), most wins via finish/stoppage (Patricio Freire, 15), most wins via KO/TKO (Michael 'Venom' Page and Patricky Freire, 11), and most wins via submission (Goiti Yamauchi, 9).

The fastest stoppage win record in the organization is held by three fighters. Notably, Hector Lombard had famously knocked out Jay Silva in six seconds. Mike Kimbel knocked out Alex Potts, and Michele Martignoni knocked out Simone D'Anna; both within six seconds.

The trio also holds the record for the organization's fastest knockout win. Moreover, the fastest submission in the organization belongs to Aviv Gozali, who submitted Eduard Muravitskiy in 11 seconds.

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Michael Chandler's Bellator title fight defeats

Michael Chandler lost his Bellator lightweight title via split decision in his rematch against Eddie Alvarez in November 2013. It was also Chandler's first-ever professional MMA defeat.

Additionally, Chandler's second loss in a title fight in the promotion came when he was beaten via split decision by Will Brooks with the interim lightweight belt at stake in May 2014. The third loss was a fourth-round TKO defeat in his rematch against Will Brooks, with the vacant lightweight belt on the line, in November 2014. Chandler competed in the three aforementioned fights consecutively.

Chandler's fourth title fight loss in the organization came in June 2017. It was via first-round TKO (doctor's stoppage) in his first encounter against Brent Primus, wherein he lost his lightweight belt. The American's fifth title fight loss saw him drop the lightweight belt due to a first-round TKO defeat against Patricio 'Pitbull' Freire in May 2019.

Regardless, Chandler is currently a staple of the UFC lightweight division. The 38-year-old, who's on a quest to capture UFC gold, recently discussed Bellator's closure and expressed his gratitude for the opportunities that the organization gave him. However, he indicated that departing it and joining the UFC was important for him to test himself against the world's top MMA lightweights.