On Friday night, Bellator 243 took place from the Mohegan Sun Arena in Uncasville, Connecticut featuring a rematch between Michael Chandler and Benson Henderson.
Chandler was entering the fight on the last fight of his existing deal with the promotion. The two met in November 2016 at Bellator 165 where Chandler earned a split decision victory that night.
They were set to have a rematch last December when Bellator held its card at the Saitama Super Arena but an injury forced Henderson to withdraw from the fight. In his place, Sidney Outlaw took the spot and was knocked out by Chandler in the first round.
Chandler had an emphatic victory on Friday night when he stopped the former UFC lightweight champion in the first round with a knockout victory. Chandler improved his record to 21-5 and scored the fifth victory of his past six fights.
The 34-year old will approach free agency after fighting for Bellator twenty-three times since September 2010 and won the promotion’s lightweight title three times.
Henderson falls to 28-9 in his professional career with Chandler ending his four-fight win streak inside Bellator. Henderson joined Bellator in 2016 and has gone 5-4 in the promotion. Henderson entered this fight following wins against Roger Huerta, Saad Awad, Adam Piccolotti, and Myles Jury.
Below are the full results from Bellator 243 on Friday night:
*Michael Chandler def. Benson Henderson by KO at 2:09 of Round 1
*Timothy Johnson def. Matt Mitrione by TKO at 3:14 of Round 1
*Myles Jury def. Georgi Karakhanyan by split decision (30-27, 27-30, 29-28)
*Sabah Homasi def. Curtis Millender by unanimous decision (29-28 all)
*Adam Borics def. Mike Hamel by split decision (29-28, 28-29, 29-28)
*Cris Lencioni def. A.J. Agazarm by unanimous decision (30-26, 30-27, 29-28)
*Valerie Loureda def. Tara Graff by TKO at 5:00 of Round 2
*Grant Neal def. Hamza Salim by unanimous decision (30-26, 30-27, 30-24)
*Charlie Campbell def. Nainoa Dung by TKO at 1:42 of Round 2
*Dalton Rosta def. Mark Gardner by TKO due to a doctor’s stoppage at 5:00 of Round 1
