Bellator
Newly crowned Champ Will Brooks says he tore his hamstring prior to Michael Chandler bout at Bellator 131
Nov 24, 2014 - 6:10:04 PM Newly crowned Champ Will Brooks says he tore his hamstring prior to Michael Chandler bout at Bellator 131

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By: Jamie Penick, MMATorch Editor-in-Chief

Will Brooks captured the Bellator Lightweight Championship just over a week ago, stopping Michael Chandler in the fourth round at Bellator 131, but it turns out he did so with a fairly significant injury.

In an interview with MMAJunkie.com this week, Brooks revealed that he suffered a hamstring tear while sparring with UFC featherweight Nik Lentz, slipping on a mat that led to him feeling a pop in his leg.

"I ended up going to the hospital that day," he said, adding that the doctor told him he'd need one or two months to recover and that he should pull out of the fight with Chandler. "As soon as he said that, me and my girlfriend walked out of the room. We were like, 'Nah, that's not really an option.'

Brooks felt he needed to fight in order to command the respect he feels was denied him in the lead up to the fight, so he had a lot to prove, especially to Bellator brass.

"When I wasn't being promoted as the interim lightweight titleholder, that was upsetting to me because it was like, man, you're taking my hard work from me," he said. "You're taking my hard work for granted. That means my hard work, and everything I put into the gym, my teammates, even my family, that means a lot to me. To disrespect me in that way, to have me standing behind Chandler as if I was the challenger, to not even show that I have the belt on – you had to look really close to see the belt was there, [in] a few promo videos they show. I don't think anybody recognizes this, but there was a promo video the first time that didn't show me as an interim titleholder or interim champion."

"I clicked over into a mindset where there was something that I wanted. I wanted to make people understand that I deserve my respect. There's a simple level of respect that everybody is entitled to initially as human beings. Anything after that has to be earned. Being the fighter in the organization, I felt I wasn't even getting that initial level of respect that I'm entitled to as a human being and an employee of the organization, so I felt I was trying to earn that."

Penick's Analysis: This is slightly different than, say, Ryan Ford fighting Jake Shields with a broken arm, in that it wasn't necessarily quite as serious. Still, while I certainly understand His desire to go ahead with the fight, he hurts himself and the organization if he's out a lengthy period of time now because he didn't let it heal up before a long fight. Maybe he avoided further aggravation, but it's a significant risk to take.