Brent Primus (born April 12, 1985) is an American

mixed martial artist Mixed martial arts (MMA), sometimes referred to as cage fighting, no holds barred (NHB), and ultimate fighting, and originally referred to as Vale Tudo is a full-contact combat sport based on striking, grappling and ground fighting, incorpo ...

currently competing for

Bellator MMA Bellator MMA (formerly Bellator Fighting Championships) is an American mixed martial arts promotion founded in 2008 and based in Santa Monica, California, owned and operated as a subsidiary of television and media conglomerate Paramount Glob ...

, where he is the former Bellator Lightweight World Champion. As of November 1, 2022, he is #6 in the Bellator Lightweight Rankings.

Background

Born and raised in

Eugene, Oregon Eugene ( ) is a city in the U.S. state of Oregon. It is located at the southern end of the Willamette Valley, near the confluence of the McKenzie and Willamette rivers, about east of the Oregon Coast. As of the 2020 United States Census ...

, Primus attended Sheldon High School, where he played soccer and helped the team tie South Eugene High School for the co-state title. He later began training in

Brazilian jiu-jitsu Brazilian jiu-jitsu (BJJ; pt, jiu-jitsu brasileiro ) is a self-defence martial art and combat sport based on grappling, ground fighting ( ne-waza) and submission holds. BJJ focuses on the skill of taking an opponent to the ground, control ...

, earning his black belt in only six years. Primus had a tumultuous childhood and teenage years, having never seen his real father outside of a prison, except for catching him on an episode of “Cops” once as a child. At the age of 13, he found himself homeless after being kicked out of the house by his step father. After this,he bounced around from home to home until he began selling pounds of weed to finance himself. At 15, Primus had his own house from these proceeds. At age 16, his home was raided by rival gangsters, with Primus held up at gunpoint. At 18, his home was raided by police and Primus was sent to jail. During this time, Primus was partying and finding himself in fights on a weekly basis, leading to one of Primus’ friends to sign him up for an amateur fight, which lead him onto his career in MMA.

Mixed martial arts career

Early career

Primus compiled an amateur record of 5-1 before making his professional debut in September 2010, defeating Chris Ensley via first-round submission. In his second pro bout, Primus defeated Roy Bradshaw via submission in the first round on May 12, 2012.

Bellator MMA

Primus signed with Bellator in 2013. He made his debut for the organization on September 27, 2013 at Bellator 101 against Scott Thometz. Primus won via rear-naked choke submission at 3:48 in the first round, improving his record to 3–0. Primus had his second bout with the organization on November 22, 2013 at Bellator 109. He defeated Brett Glass by rear-naked choke submission in the first round. In his next bout, Primus faced Chris Jones at Bellator 111 on March 7, 2014. Primus won via TKO in the first round, which marked the first time Primus had finished an opponent that was not by rear-naked choke. After nearly a year-and-a-half away from the sport, Primus returned to face Derek Anderson at Bellator 141 on August 28, 2015. He won the fight by split decision. Primus next faced Gleristone Santos at Bellator 153 on April 22, 2016. He won the fight by split decision.

Bellator Lightweight World Champion

With an undefeated streak of five wins in Bellator, Primus faced Bellator Lightweight champion

Michael Chandler Michael Chandler (born April 24, 1986) is an American professional mixed martial artist. He currently competes in the Lightweight division in the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC). A professional competitor since 2009, Chandler first gained n ...

at Bellator NYC on June 24, 2017. At 2:22 in the first round, the bout was temporarily halted by the referee to check on Chandler, whose left ankle was visibly injured. The bout was stopped in favor of Primus via TKO, awarding him the

Bellator Lightweight World Championship Bellator MMA (formerly known as "Bellator Fighting Championships") is an American mixed martial arts promotion, and the following is a history of its champions in each weight class. At the time of its inception in 2008, CEO Bjorn Rebney founded B ...

and pulling off one of the biggest upsets in Bellator history. Primus was expected to make his first title defense against Chandler in a rematch at Bellator 197 on April 13, 2018. However, he pulled out of the fight due to a knee injury. As a result, Brandon Girtz stepped in as a replacement. The rematch between Primus and Chandler finally took place in the main event of Bellator 212 on December 14, 2018. Primus was out-wrestled for the better part of the fight, and despite landing similar leg kicks to those that stopped Chandler in their first fight and dropping Chandler with a punch in the second round, Primus was defeated by Chandler via unanimous decision.

Post-title era

As the first fight after losing his title, Primus faced Tim Wilde at Bellator: Birmingham on May 4, 2019. He won the fight via gogoplata in the first round. Primus was expected to face Peter Queally at Bellator 240 on February 22, 2020. However, Queally was forced to withdraw from the bout due to knee injury and was subsequently replaced by Chris Bungard. Primus won the bout via neck-crank submission in the 1st round. On April 17, 2021, Primus announced signing a new 6 fight contract. Primus faced Islam Mamedov on July 31, 2021 at

Bellator 263 Bellator 263: Pitbull vs. McKee was a mixed martial arts event produced by Bellator MMA that took place on July 31, 2021, at The Forum in Inglewood, California. The event marked Bellator's first outside of the Mohegan Sun bubble and the first B ...

. He lost the bout via split decision. Primus faced

Benson Henderson Benson Henderson (born November 16, 1983) is an American mixed martial artist who competes for Bellator MMA, currently competing in their Lightweight division. He is a former UFC Lightweight Champion and WEC Lightweight Champion. As of Novem ...

on October 16, 2021 at Bellator 268. He won the fight via unanimous decision. Primus faced Alexander Shabliy at Bellator 282 on June 24, 2022. He lost the bout via TKO in the second round.

Championships and awards

(One time) * MMAJunkie.com **2019 May Submission of the Month

Mixed martial arts record

, - , Loss , align=center, 11–3 , Alexander Shabliy , TKO (punches) , Bellator 282 , , align=center, 2 , align=center, 1:22 ,

Uncasville, Connecticut Uncasville is an area in the town of Montville, Connecticut, United States. It is a village in southeastern Montville, at the mouth of the Oxoboxo River where it flows into the Thames River. The name is now applied more generally to all of the ...

, United States , , - , Win , align=center, 11–2 ,

, Decision (unanimous) , Bellator 268 , , align=center, 3 , align=center, 5:00 ,

Phoenix, Arizona Phoenix ( ; nv, Hoozdo; es, Fénix or , yuf-x-wal, Banyà:nyuwá) is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Arizona, with 1,608,139 residents as of 2020. It is the fifth-most populous city in the United States, and the o ...

, United States , , - , Loss , align=center, 10–2 , Islam Mamedov , Decision (split) ,

, , align=center, 3 , align=center, 5:00 ,

Los Angeles, California Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the wo ...

, United States , , - , Win , align=center, 10–1 , Chris Bungard , Submission (neck crank) , Bellator 240 , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 1:55 ,

Dublin Dublin (; , or ) is the capital and largest city of Ireland. On a bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the province of Leinster, bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, a part of the Wicklow Mountains range. At the 2016 ...

, Ireland , , - , Win , align=center, 9–1 , Tim Wilde , Submission (gogoplata) , Bellator: Birmingham , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 1:20 ,

Birmingham, England Birmingham ( ) is a city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands in England. It is the second-largest city in the United Kingdom with a population of 1.145 million in the city proper, 2.92 million in the West ...

, United Kingdom , , - , Loss , align=center, 8–1 ,

, Decision (unanimous) , Bellator 212 , , align=center, 5 , align=center, 5:00 ,

Honolulu, Hawaii Honolulu (; ) is the capital and largest city of the U.S. state of Hawaii, which is in the Pacific Ocean. It is an unincorporated county seat of the consolidated City and County of Honolulu, situated along the southeast coast of the islan ...

, United States , , - , Win , align=center, 8–0 ,

, TKO (doctor stoppage) , Bellator NYC , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 2:22 ,

New York City, New York New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the Un ...

, United States , , - , Win , align=center, 7–0 , Gleristone Santos , Decision (split) , Bellator 153 , , align=center, 3 , align=center, 5:00 ,

, United States , , - , Win , align=center, 6–0 , Derek Anderson , Decision (split) , Bellator 141 , , align=center, 3 , align=center, 5:00 ,

Temecula, California Temecula (; es, Temécula, ; Luiseño: ''Temeekunga'') is a city in southwestern Riverside County, California, United States. The city had a population of 110,003 as of the 2020 census and was incorporated on December 1, 1989. The city is a ...

, United States , , - , Win , align=center, 5–0 , Chris Jones , TKO (punches) , Bellator 111 , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 1:45 ,

Thackerville, Oklahoma Thackerville is a town in Love County, Oklahoma. It is located in South Central Oklahoma. The population was 445 at the 2010 census. It is part of the Ardmore, Oklahoma Micropolitan Statistical Area. Geography Thackerville is located at (3 ...

, United States , , - , Win , align=center, 4–0 , Brett Glass , Submission (rear-naked choke) , Bellator 109 , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 3:20 ,

Bethlehem, Pennsylvania Bethlehem is a city in Northampton and Lehigh Counties in the Lehigh Valley region of eastern Pennsylvania, United States. As of the 2020 census, Bethlehem had a total population of 75,781. Of this, 55,639 were in Northampton County and 19,3 ...

, United States , , - , Win , align=center, 3–0 , Scott Thometz , Submission (rear-naked choke) , Bellator 101 , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 3:48 ,

Portland, Oregon Portland (, ) is a port city in the Pacific Northwest and the largest city in the U.S. state of Oregon. Situated at the confluence of the Willamette and Columbia rivers, Portland is the county seat of Multnomah County, the most populou ...

, United States , , - , Win , align=center, 2–0 , Roy Bradshaw , Submission (rear-naked choke) , Midtown Productions: Midtown Throwdown 4 , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 1:42 ,

, United States , , - , Win , align=center, 1–0 , Chris Ensley , Submission (rear-naked choke) , BKP: Springfield Throwdown 1 , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 1:05 ,

Springfield, Oregon Springfield is a city in Lane County, Oregon, United States. Located in the Southern Willamette Valley, it is within the Eugene-Springfield Metropolitan Statistical Area. Separated from Eugene to the west, mainly by Interstate 5, Springfield ...

, United States ,

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Primus, Brent Living people 1985 births American male mixed martial artists Mixed martial artists from Oregon Sportspeople from Eugene, Oregon Lightweight mixed martial artists Mixed martial artists utilizing Brazilian jiu-jitsu Bellator MMA champions American practitioners of Brazilian jiu-jitsu People awarded a black belt in Brazilian jiu-jitsu Submission grapplers