Michael Chandler stamped his second reign as Bellator lightweight champion on Friday night.

The Missouri native electrified a hometown crowd with his first-round knockout victory over Patricky Freire at Bellator 157. Chandler unleashed a crisp right hand, Freire hit the deck and the masses at the Scottrade Center lost their minds.

Chandler sat atop the cage taking in the scene, and the moment will burn in his memory for years to come.

“It was amazing,” Chandler told FloCombat. “I was ready to fight May 14, but having that fight cancelled and pushed back to St. Louis ended up being a blessing in disguise. At the time it was tough. Doing back-to-back training camps and being away from my wife for a long time was rough, but being able to come here to St. Louis, in front of this crowd where it all began was great.”

While holding Bellator gold is nothing new for Chandler, the landscape he’ll face for his second run looks much different. Where there were no fighters with established names or legacies waiting for their call to fight for the title, the current mixture has several elevated profiles and former champion.

Both Benson Henderson and Josh Thomson are itching for a shot at Chandler’s newly claimed gold, and the potential for those fights coming to fruition have the newly minted lightweight titleholder fired up.

“I’ve believed in Bellator for a long time. If I hadn’t, I would have jumped ship a long time ago,” Chandler said. “I knew Bellator was going to continue to grow, treat people right and attract people. This is an organization that takes care of people. We have Ben Henderson now. We have Josh Thomson now. Rory MacDonald is a free agent now and we’ll see if he comes over. You’re going to see a lot of guys coming over and it’s going to be great.

“It’s great to go out there and win the title then have a guy like Ben Henderson talking about fighting you? That wasn’t the case when I beat Eddie Alvarez to win my first title. There wasn’t anything even close to that. Now I’m talking about fighting Ben Henderson who is a top 10 guy in the world and a former champion in the UFC—that’s exciting.”

Chandler will take some time to enjoy the fruits of his hard work, but he’ll be thinking about the next challenge every step of the way. He was initially slated to face Thomson back in May, and that is a fight he’s determined to get back, but a potential bout against Henderson seemed to carry a different appeal.

Henderson’s move to Bellator was big news when it was first announced, and Chandler is excited to test himself against a fighter with “Smooth’s” resume.

“I will collide with [Henderson],” Chandler said. “Whether it’s next or sometime in the next year, I will fight and I’ll defeat Ben Henderson. I’ve already visualized it. I’ve seen what he brings to the table. I’ve been a casual fan of his for a long time. When you study a guy who has been a champion in your weight class, you know the holes in their game. I’ve seen what he brings to the table and what I can exploit.

“When I say I’ve been a fan of his I mean he’s a good guy. He’s a family man and he brings a lot of eyes to the MMA industry not just those who want to see blood and guts. He brings fans who want to see athletes achieve great things and I think he’s a great guy for the sport. I’ve been looking forward to fighting him for years.

“He was the UFC champion and I was the Bellator champ and people wanted to know what would happen,” he added. “Now they will get to see.”