It’s not quite against who we expected it to be – but “Iron” Michael Chandler is back.
The former lightweight king will face rising contender; Goiti Yamauchi.
Chandler made the bout official via Instagram.
Michael Chandler returns vs. Goiti Yamauchi at Bellator 192
Chandler (16-4) had his four-fight win streak snapped by Brent Primus at Bellator NYC last June. The bout ended via unfortunate injury after Chandler seemingly rolled his ankle early in the fight. To Primus‘ credit, he did also land some nice leg kicks which did damage as well, but, even whilst on one leg; Chandler still had Primus in trouble at one point. The fight was waved off halfway through the round, much to the displeasure of Chandler as well as the fans. Many people expected Chandler to get an immediate rematch, but interestingly enough; that is not happening.
Prior to the title loss, Chandler picked up finishes over Patricky Freire, David Rickels, and Derek Campos. In his first title defense before losing to Primus, Chandler defeated former UFC & WEC Lightweight Champion, Benson Henderson, via unanimous decision after twenty-five minutes of action.
24-year-old phenom Goiti Yamauchi (22-3) enters the bout having won three straight, all via first-round finish. A former SMASH Fight & Iron FC Champion; Yamauchi recently defeated the formerly undefeated Adam Piccolotti via standing rear-naked choke. Prior to this, he choked out Valeriu Mircea less than two months after submitting Ryan Couture with a vicious armbar in just 61-seconds last October.
He heads into – by far – the biggest fight of his career with a ton of momentum and virtually nothing to lose.
Bellator 192 is set to take place at The Forum in Inglewood, California. The main event features a welterweight title fight between Brazil’s Douglas Lima and Canada’s Rory MacDonald.
Although no other fights are confirmed; a quarter-final match-up for Bellator’s Heavyweight Grand-Prix is rumored for the show. The match-up would pit Quinton “Rampage” Jackson against Chael Sonnen.
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