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Michael Chandler is no stranger to a classic lightweight championship fight, and he found himself in another one on Saturday.Chandler (16-3) defended the Bellator MMA title for the first time Saturday, when he defeated former UFC champion Benson Henderson via split decision. The 155-pound title fight headlined Bellator 165 at SAP Center in San Jose, California.Two of the three judges scored the fight for Chandler by scores of 48-47 and 48-46. A third judge had it 48-46 in favor of Henderson. ESPN.com scored it 47-46, Chandler.Chandler, a two-time Bellator champion, apologized for the close scorecards. The crowd booed, even though Chandler had finished one of the best fights of 2016.Benson is a heck of a competitor, Chandlers said. Hey, you cant be perfect in here. You have to find a way to win. Sorry to everybody whos disappointed. I will get better. I will come back. Dont be mad at me, I just bring it.Henderson (24-7) celebrated as soon as the bout was over. After the scorecards were read, he walked away from Chandler and leaned heavily on the side of the cage. The Arizona-based lightweight is 1-2 since signing with Bellator. His other loss came to former welterweight champion Andrey Koreshkov.The back-and-forth affair nearly didnt make it out of the first round. Chandler dominated Henderson early, hurting him with several hard right hands across the chin and scored a huge suplex, after stuffing several takedowns attempts. Chandler also caught Henderson in a power guillotine but couldnt finish it.Henderson responded well in the second round, but momentum mostly stayed with Chandler. He threatened to submit Henderson with another guillotine in the third and out-wrestled him in the fourth. Prior to the fifth, however, Chandler looked exhausted and had trouble getting back to his corner.Sensing an opportunity, Henderson pushed the pace in the final round. He took Chandlers back with three minutes to work but lost position moments later. Chandler did little offense in the final five minutes, while Hendersons output seemed to increase.A rematch will be a possibility for Bellator; however, Chandler also called out San Jose-based lightweight Josh Thomson. A former Strikeforce champion, Thomson is 2-0 with Bellator but hasnt fought since last December.Chandler won his first Bellator championship in 2011, in an instant classic against then-champion Eddie Alvarez. Chandler defended his title twice before surrendering the belt back to Alvarez in 2013. Chandler reclaimed the title earlier this year.I do have to say, San Jose, if your boy Josh Thomson steps back into the cage and does not stand across the cage from me, he is an absolute coward, Chandler said. Id [also] love to run it back against Benson Henderson and put the pain on him next time.Page squeaks past Gonzalez in lackluster fightMichael Venom Page has never struggled to entertain and win in MMA. He had a little trouble doing both Saturday.Page (12-0) maintained his perfect pro record by defeating Fernando Gonzalez (25-14) via split decision. Two judges scored it for Page 29-28, while the other saw it completely different: 30-27 Gonzalez.It was an awkward fight; neither fighter seemed willing to really mix it up. Gonzalez stayed well on the outside in the first and second rounds before finally pressing the action in the third. Page also hung back, stringing together feints and dance moves from a distance. His offense came mostly in the form of rangy kicks, which never really hurt Gonzalez.The California crowd booed the entire welterweight affair. Page, nevertheless, improved to 7-0 in the Bellator cage. It is the first time he has failed to finish a fight since October 2014.Melendez scores first-round knockout in pro debutKeri Melendez (1-0), wife of UFC lightweight Gilbert Melendez, earned a first-round knockout in her professional MMA debut.A former professional kickboxer, Melendez, 32, went after strawweight Sheila Padilla (2-1) early, throwing the right behind the jab.The finish came just 47 seconds in, as Melendez landed a flush right hand that dropped Padilla. Melendez followed with another punch, but it was clear Padilla was done after the initial shot.DeAaron Fox Jersey . Both players have lower body injuries that will keep them out of the lineup until at least January 31, which is the first game they can be activated from IR. Bogdan Bogdanovic Kings Jersey . Jeff Green scored 13 points and Kris Humphries 12 for the Celtics, who nearly blew an 18-point, second-half lead. Sullingers 20-20 was the first by a Celtics player since Kevin Garnetts first game in Boston in 2007. Garnett was dealt -- along with Paul Pierce -- to Brooklyn during the off-season. http://www.nbakingsonline.com/ . What general manager Dave Nonis called "short and productive" negotiations ended with Kessel signing a US$64-million, eight-year contract on Tuesday. Mike Bibby Kings Jersey . This should be celebrated because it will not always be this way. With the amount of money given to players by their clubs these days, it is a wonder that so many of those teams allow the sport to continue to take away many of their assets so they can play for a different team in the middle of their season. Buddy Hield Jersey . Kiriasis and brakeman Franziska Fritz finished two runs in one minute 55.41 seconds -- a mere 0.01 seconds ahead of Meyers and Lolo Jones, who likely bolstered her Olympic hopes by helping give USA-1 a huge push in the second heat.ST. LOUIS -- Adam Wainwright relished the chance to stop a skid.The Cardinals ace worked seven effective innings to help St. Louis beat Pittsburgh 5-1 on Thursday to avoid a four-game sweep and end the Pirates season-best seven-game winning streak.Today, I really wanted to push it as long as I possibly could, Wainwright said. I was having fun mixing and matching and mixing my delivery speed. I was pitching out there, thats how I did it in 2014.Wainwright (8-5) was a 20-game winner two years ago, but missed most of last season with a torn left Achilles. He is rediscovering his form now, lowering his ERA to 4.49.Hes been a master craftsman for years, Pirates manager Clint Hurdle. He was on top of his game.Stephen Piscotty hit a three-run home run and Randal Grichuk also went deep for St. Louis, which reclaimed second place in the NL Central by a half-game over Pittsburgh to end a rough 4-5 homestand. All-Star Matt Carpenter (oblique) joined Brandon Moss (ankle) and Brayan Pena (knee) on the 15-day disabled list earlier in the day.We heard the news, then we went about our business, Piscotty said. We have to stay the course. I dont think anyones going to give up by any means.Piscottys 11th homer off Arquimedes Caminero was initially ruled off the top of the center-field wall but the call was overturned after review. Piscotty had three homers during the home stand but didnt think this one was out.Tyler Glasnow (0-1) was charged with four runs in 5 1/3 innings in his debut. The 22-year-old right-hander was the 11th starter used by the Pirates and, like Steven Brault earlier in the series, got his first career hit.It was kind of crazy waking up and coming to the ballpark and I really think I took it all in, the 6-foot-8 Glasnow said. It was a fun experience.Hurdle was impressed.He commanded the zone, he made his pitches, the managerr said.ddddddddddddHe didnt let things get out of hand at any point in time.Jordy Mercer doubled and had an RBI for the Pirates, who had come from behind to win the previous six games. They havent swept a four-game series in St. Louis since 1997 and the Cardinals havent been swept in four games at home by anyone since Colorado in 2009.Aledmys Diaz, named an All-Star earlier in the day to replace Carpenter, tripled off the top of the left-field fence and scored on a wild pitch to tie it in the fourth. Grichuks first homer since June 12 gave the Cardinals the lead for good in the fifth.Wainwright matched his season best with nine strikeouts and got his 129th career win, passing Harry Brecheen for seventh on the franchise list. Hes permitted one run over 14 innings his last two outings.The way the first month and a half went for me was a real grind but I knew I was going to turn it around, Wainwright said. And Im on my way, I wanted that eighth win.The first pitch was delayed 31 minutes by rain. During the homestand there were 5 hours and 44 minutes of delays.TRAINERS ROOMPirates: RHP Gerrit Cole (triceps) is expected to make a second rehab start on Sunday.Cardinals: 3B Jhonny Peralta (left thumb) missed his second straight start.NICE GLOVECardinals 3B Greg Garcia made two nice grabs on liners, robbing Jung Ho Kang in the first and pinch-hitter Sean Rodriguez in the eighth. Garcia led off in place of Carpenter and had a double, walk and scored a run.UP NEXTPirates: Francisco Liriano (5-8, 5.34) snapped a five-game losing streak his last time out, but is 0-2 against the Cubs this year.Cardinals: Michael Wacha (5-7, 4.38) has won three straight starts and faces the Brewers for the second straight time. ' ' '