Michael Chandler Jr.[12] (born April 24, 1986) is an American professional mixed martial artist.

Chandler was on the honor roll every term in high school, received three letters in football, and finished as the runner–up at the MSHSAA State Championships as a senior in wrestling.

[16] Immediately after his wrestling career was over, Chandler began training mixed martial arts at Xtreme Couture.

He opted out of competing as an amateur and in August 2009, Chandler made his professional MMA debut with a first-round TKO victory over Kyle Swadley.

[26] Chandler then faced Lloyd Woodard at Bellator 40 and won via unanimous decision to move onto the finals of the tournament.

He defeated Freire via unanimous decision to win $100,000 and a shot at the Bellator Lightweight World Championship.

[33] In his first fight after winning the title, Chandler faced Akihiro Gono in a non-title superfight at Bellator 67 on May 4, 2012.

[38] However, on June 2, it was announced that Jansen had pulled out of the bout due to an injury[39] and faced David Rickels at Bellator 97 instead.

[50] After a dominant start on the feet, including a knockdown, he won the match via submission in the first round.

[55] In his first title defense, Chandler faced former UFC Lightweight Champion Benson Henderson on November 19, 2016, in the main event of Bellator 165.

[57] In his second title defense, Chandler faced Brent Primus on June 24, 2017, at Bellator NYC.

[58] In the first round, the bout was temporarily halted by the referee to check on Chandler, whose left ankle was visibly injured.

The bout was stopped in favor of Primus via technical knockout, earning him the Bellator Lightweight Championship.

[62] After Primus pulled out of the fight due to injury, Chandler faced Brandon Girtz on the same card.

[64] In late June 2018, reports surfaced that Chandler's contract with Bellator would expire imminently, making him a free agent.

[65] On August 22, 2018, it was announced that Chandler had re-signed a new, exclusive multi-fight contract with Bellator MMA.

[67] Chandler dominated the majority of the fight by out-wrestling Primus, ultimately defeating him by unanimous decision and regaining the Bellator Lightweight World title in the process.

[68] In the first defense of his new title, Chandler faced Patrício Pitbull on May 11, 2019, in the main event of Bellator 221.

[70] On October 25, 2019, it was announced that Chandler would return to cage to rematch Benson Henderson at Bellator & Rizin: Japan on December 29, 2019.

[87] The bout was also regarded as the Fight of the Year by the UFC and various mixed martial arts media outlets.

[103] Chandler and Conor McGregor were coaches for The Ultimate Fighter 31 which started filming in February 2023[104] and aired on television from May to August 2023.

[105] This culminated with Chandler being scheduled to face Conor McGregor in a welterweight bout at UFC 303 on June 29, 2024.