Former Cage Warriors middleweight champion Lee Chadwick is loving life as a Bellator light heavyweight, but says he’s keen to lose the bitter taste of defeat that lingers from his last outing.

England’s Chadwick (25-15 MMA, 1-2 BMMA) lost a split decision to former Cage Warriors light heavyweight champion Karl Moore at Bellator 227 in Dublin in a fight he firmly believes he won – a fact he made clear to me when he chatted to me on the arena concourse between fights and talked me through all three rounds as Irish fans with pints of beer passed by, patting him on the back and telling him they thought he’d won the fight.

The raw emotion of that night had subsided when we caught up on the phone to chat about his next move, but Chadwick said he’d love nothing more than to run it back with his fellow Cage Warriors colleague.

“The more I watch it, the more I know I won the fight,” he said. “The only thing is if you leave it to the judges in the home crowd and it’s not a clear ‘beat somebody up’ win, it can go either way.

“I have had a chance to think about it and I think I won it. I’ve had thousands of messages on social media and everyone said the same thing. Even his fans said to me afterward that they believed I won – they didn’t expect him to get it. And even he looked shocked when he got it, so that says it all. It speaks volumes. I believe I got the moral victory in there, I believe I’m better than him and I believe I’ll be even better if I had a rematch.”

Chadwick is keen to stay active and, after competing in Bellator’s European Series events in Newcastle, Birmingham and Dublin in 2019, and was hoping to land a spot on the Nov. 23 card in London. But it wasn’t to be, and “The Butcher” is instead targeting an early 2020 return.

“I spoke to Jude (Samuel, Bellator Europe’s matchmaker), but obviously the card is stacked. I can’t get on there,” he said. “I’m a bit gutted about that because I’d love to get back in there and get that loss off my record.

“I was told I’m not penciled in until 2020. So I’m going to stay ready and stay on standby because I wanted to get one more fight this year, see my contract out and negotiate a better contract next year. I’m working on my visa to fight in America, too, so if there’s any shows I can jump on, I will.

“(Bellator) have been good to me – I can’t complain. What happened in Dublin doesn’t change how much I love the organization. That was just one of those things. I wasn’t happy about it at the time, but I’ve taken it on the chin.”

Chadwick’s contract situation has since been addressed, with the Liverpudlian signing a new four-fight deal with Bellator to secure his immediate fighting future with the organization. And, after hearing about the promotion’s potential return to Dublin in February 2020, Chadwick said a rematch with Moore (9-2 MMA, 1-0 BMMA) at the 3Arena would be close to perfect for his schedule.

“Next February? I’d said I wanted neutral ground because I wasn’t happy with the decision, but if the worse comes to the worst, I’d happily give him the rematch in Dublin in February,” he said. “I’m getting married (March 6), so I was hoping to fight in February. That’s got me all excited now.

“Hopefully I’ll get one before Christmas, so I’ll be staying ready – then hopefully Dublin in February.”