Ric Flair Called Michael Chandler To Congratulate Him On The KO This Past Weekend
Before this past weekend, you may not have been too familiar the name 'Michael Chandler' - but for many combat sports fans across the globe, that was a name synonymous with Bellator MMA....until now.
Kinda like how Ric Flair's name was synonymous with 'World Championship Wrestling' for a long time in his career....until 1992.
See where I'm going with this?
For probably half a decade, Chandler has been widely recognized as one of the best mixed martial artists on the planet to never step foot in the UFC octagon - instead making his living fighting for Bellator since 2010. As a former champ there, perennial contender, and one of the faces of their brand for years, he did pretty much all there was to do and climbed every mountain there was to climb within that company, leading many in the sport to believe he'd choose to retire there.
After he fought out his contract last year, however, UFC President Dana White gave Chandler a call and signed him to a massive promotion-crossing deal, deciding to see what the former Bellator champ would look like against the best the UFC had to offer!
I talked to Dana White about that signing/call just last week, check it out here.
Once he got his first fight officially scheduled for the co-main event of UFC 257 (versus Dan Hooker), comparisons to Ric Flair came in right away from none other than Daniel Cormier....
....which led Chandler to go as far as quoting the man's debut promo in his post-fight speech!
Now we've got The Nature Boy himself giving Chandler a call to congratulate him on the KO just days later! I can't even imagine the whirlwind this must be for the former Bellator Champ. Seems like everything just aligned perfectly for him and went as right as you ever could've hoped a long awaited debut like that would.
P.S. I met Michael Chandler at the airport after the fights and he was a really cool dude. Said he's a Rough N Rowdy fan and wanted to call some fights with us some day. Would be pretty sick.