Will Brooks pulled off a massive, albeit controversial, upset over Michael Chandler in a thrilling, 25-minute co-main event at Bellator 120 Saturday.
Brooks won the interim lightweight title after picking up a split decision victory that had many raising their eyebrows.
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Chandler controlled the action early with multiple takedowns in the first two rounds, but Brooks was able to turn the tide over the course of the next 10 minutes. Brooks landed heavy ground-and-pound, took Chandler’s back and attempted several rear-naked chokes in a dominant third round before also winning the fourth stanza.
Late in the final round, Chandler dropped Brooks with a series of punches, mounted his opponent and attempted to lock in an arm-triangle choke, but Brooks held on until the final horn.
While it appeared Chandler won the first, second and fifth rounds, with Brooks taking the third and fourth, two judges gave Brooks the final round and scored the fight 48-47 in favour of the underdog.
“This was, by far, the worst performance of my life,” a disappointed Chandler said. “A lot of different things going on. Congrats to Will Brooks.”
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Chandler (12-2) was originally scheduled to fight lightweight champ Eddie Alvarez in the main event, but Alvarez suffered a concussion that forced an opponent switch last week. Chandler has now lost two consecutive bouts by split decision.
Meanwhile, Brooks (14-1) has won five straight in the Bellator cage. It is expected he will fight Alvarez later this year to unify the titles, however the organization hasn’t made any official plans yet.
Also on the main card, former heavyweight champion Alexander Volkov submitted Blagoy Ivanov to win the Season 10 Heavyweight Tournament. It was just the second submission win of Volkov’s career and the first loss Ivanov has suffered.
England’s Michael Page remained unbeaten with an artful performance against American Ricky Rainey.
It was the promotion’s pay-per-view debut.
