Despite Brent Primus’ claims, Michael Chandler wants to make it abundantly clear that he never turned down a fight with Bellator’s current 155-pound champ.
The news of a matchup between Michael Chandler (16-4 MMA, 13-4 BMMA) and Goiti Yamauchi (22-3 MMA, 8-2 BMMA) was received with some level of surprise a few weeks ago. After all, following the strange first encounter that saw Primus (8-0 MMA, 6-0 BMMA) taking Chandler’s belt, the rematch seemed like the obvious fight to make.
At the time, Primus told MMAFighting.com that Chandler had turned down the title rematch in favor of a move to 170 pounds. And the news of the 155-pound booking with Yamauchi, Primus said, was just as surprising to him as it was to everyone else.
Chandler, however, is emphatic: He’s never been one to turn down fights and was not about to start with Primus.
“You would literally fall on the floor and pass out if somebody told you that Michael Chandler pulled out of a fight or passed up a fight or turned down a fight,” Chandler told MMAjunkie Radio. “That’s not who I am; that’s not who I’ve ever been. Yet, the so-called fighter on the other side has had eight fights in the last eight years. He has consistently fought one time in the last eight years. He and I have been in the game the same amount of time, yet I have almost three times the amount of fights that he has.
“I have fought with injuries, I have taken fights that I shouldn’t have, I have taken fights on short notice. I’ve moaned and complained and cried and screamed at the top of my lungs that I don’t fight enough, that I don’t get used enough. I fought one time in the year of 2017, and I am not happy about it. So, man, it’s one of those things where people are going to say what they want to say.
“The people who know me, who are real fans, the people who know me and my character and my tenacity to want to go out there and compete for my pay checks know that I haven’t turned down the fight. Bellator told me that he didn’t want to fight me. And then, supposedly, Bellator told him I didn’t want to fight him.”
While Chandler had expressed his desire to fight at 170 pounds in the past, he’s been quite vocal about his dissatisfaction with the TKO loss at Bellator NYC. Primus insists he was the one who caused nerve damage and, therefore, should get credit for his win, but Chandler has consistently discounted the validity of Primus’ title.
Even Bellator President Scott Coker had previously said Chandler was next in line for the title shot, beating Patricky Freire to it, and that the hold-up was Primus and his baby.
Obviously, that isn’t happening. And Chandler, who also just recently became a proud father, is now ready to “move on to bigger things.” Career-wise, that starts Jan. 20, when he meets 25-year-old Yamauchi on the main card of Bellator 192, which takes place at The Forum in Inglewood, Calif., and airs on Paramount following prelims on MMAjunkie.
Yamauchi enters the bout on an impressive three-fight win streak – all by first-round submission. And while his name is a relatively obscure one, the former 155-pound champ believes he’s got a more credentialed opponent in him than he did in Primus.
“Yamauchi is a tougher fight than (Primus) is,” Chandler said. “Yamauchi is a more dangerous fight than he is. Yamauchi takes the sport more seriously – as you can see in his 20-something fights and 18 submission wins, compared to eight professional fights in eight years.
“So, man, you can have the belt. You can have the world champion behind or name or whatever you want to call it. But it’s got an asterisk. And that asterisk is that you didn’t truly beat Michael Chandler.
“Everybody knows it. I gained more fans losing at Madison Square Garden and telling the whole world to cut my leg off, and I’ll continue to fight than he did at winning a fight. So I’m not worried about that stuff. I’m the most violent, most exciting fighter in mixed martial arts. I just want to go out there and beat this guy, who’s a young, hungry, real fighter.”
To hear from Chandler, check out the video above.
And for more on Bellator 192, check out the MMA Rumors section of the site.
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