“I don’t like Michael Chandler. I think he’s the fakest piece of crap out there, and I can’t stand him,” Primus told Sherdog.com. “I can’t stand everything he says. He just says what people want to hear. I cannot stand that guy, and I want to fight him more than anybody on this planet. I cannot wait to get a rematch.”
Suffice it to say, the harsh feelings Primus had towards his long-time rival have not changed much since December, when after a year and half of injuries and failed bookings, Primus had finally come face-to-face with the hated opponent from whom he originally wrested the title at Bellator 180. However, an early accident would send the first-time defending champion on a path to frustration and regret.
Less than two minutes into the opening frame, Chandler landed a left hook that put his Primus on his backside. A troublesome scenario, no doubt, but Primus says he was undamaged and clear-headed after the strike landed. Seconds later, however, a clash of heads during a punching exchange hurt Primus far worse than the previous hook did. It was a clash that landed on the same spot as a headbutt he had suffered in the final weeks of his training camp.
”I got headbutted in training about a month before that fight, and it really messed me up,” Primus recalls. “I had a concussion [and] I was kind of in a fog for a couple of days after that. It was the same exact thing in the fight. I got headbutt in that first round, and I honestly don’t remember anything until the fourth round. The whole fight I was kind of on autopilot.”
Despite the disadvantageous situation in which he found himself, Primus survived the round and actually turned the tables in the second, landing a well-placed counter left hand that put Chandler on the mat. Primus pounced on him, locking in a rear-naked choke, but Chandler too would survive. The Portland, Oregon native felt confident he would get another opportunity later in the fight, but that never came to pass. As he looks back on it now, he is filled with frustration at the mistake that cost him his best shot retaining his championship.
“To this day, I can’t stop thinking about it,” said Primus. “I always put the body triangle on when I have somebody’s back, and for some reason I did not. Then I should have switched up to a Gable choke. I should have had that choke. I’m telling you; I should have finished that fight. There’s just so many things I [always] do without thinking that I did not do.”
Along with his technical mistakes, he admits to making several mental mistakes throughout the fight. For the majority of the encounter, “Iron Mike” was able to take his foe down, and keep him there with what seemed like dominant top control. However, Primus claims it was less Chandler’s wrestling that kept the fight ground, and more him acquiescing to the position, since he has a great deal of confidence in his jiu-jitsu skills.
“I’m a second-degree black belt in jiu-jitsu. I submit high-level guys all the time,” Primus said. “I should have tried to prevent some takedowns, but my gameplan was to beat him on the feet until he takes me down, and I was going to submit him, [or] sweep him and get on top. I should have switched my gameplan and I should have used my jiu-jitsu to stand up.”
Primus has difficulty reviewing the fight, as he calls his miscues “embarrassing.” It has left him angry, disappointed, and filled with regret. It also caused him many sleepless nights.
“It sucks, I should have switched my gameplan. I am so stubborn. I always have been,” Primus says. “I kept on telling myself, ‘it’s just a matter of time, you’re going to catch him.’ And it didn’t work out that way. It’s been haunting me every time I go to sleep. I could hardly sleep for almost two months after that fight. It still kills me. I should have that belt and I should have finished him in that second round.”
All Primus can do now is work towards that long-term goal of a trilogy bout with Chandler. To do that, he must first focus on the task in front at Bellator Birmingham. “I got business ahead of me on Saturday, and Tim Wilde is on my mind,” said Primus.
“The Experiment” will be making his Bellator debut against Primus. After competing in consecutive title bouts, against one of the winningest fighters in promotional history, a follow-up fight with a newcomer seems an odd matchup. Primus did request a fight with either Patricky Freire or Benson Henderson. Unfortunately for him, a booking with either man could not be made. In the end, after fighting only once a year from 2014 to 2018, Primus just wanted to get back into action as soon as possible, no matter whom it was against.
“It just sucks that I had to wait for Chandler’s little punk-ass, to do whatever he’s doing, to fight him,” Primus said. “I’m glad I don’t have to deal with that [for this fight]. I think being active, and fighting, is more important than getting who I want to fight. So, I’m just excited that I’m fighting soon.”
A win could put the 9-1 Primus right back into contention to face the winner of the Bellator 221 championship bout between Chandler and reigning featherweight titleholder Patricio “Pitbull.” Despite his dislike for the current champion, and the admiration he has for both Freire brothers, he is not rooting for the Brazilian.
“If it was any other situation, I would want Patricio to knock his head off,” Primus says. “But I want to be the one to take that belt from Chandler. So, I want Chandler to win. Which is hard for me to say, because I respect the ‘Pitbull Brothers’ way more than Chandler. I want that five-round fight with Chandler again, so I want him to win.”