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, incorp ...

currently competing for

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

, 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, Eu ...

, Primus attended Sheldon High School, where he played

soccer Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 players who primarily use their feet to propel the ball around a rectangular field called a pitch. The objective of the game is ...

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 2013 in Bellator MMA was the eighth installment of the Bellator MMA, which began on January 17, 2013 and ended on April 4, 2013. Mixed martial arts tournaments were held in five weight classes and all of the champions, except the heavyweight cha ...

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 2013 in Bellator MMA was the eighth installment of the Bellator MMA, which began on January 17, 2013 and ended on April 4, 2013. Mixed martial arts tournaments were held in five weight classes and all of the champions, except the heavyweight ch ...

. He defeated Brett Glass by rear-naked choke submission in the first round. In his next bout, Primus faced Chris Jones at

Bellator 111 2014 in Bellator MMA was the tenth season for Bellator MMA, a mixed martial arts promotion. It began on February 28, 2014 and aired on Spike TV. The season included tournaments for the Heavyweight, Welterweight, Featherweight, Light Heavyweight, ...

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 2015 in Bellator MMA was the seventh year in the history of Bellator MMA, a mixed martial arts promotion based in the United States. Bellator held 16 events in 2015. Background In June 2014, Founder and CEO Bjorn Rebney parted with the company. ...

on August 28, 2015. He won the fight by split decision. Primus next faced Gleristone Santos at

Bellator 153 2016 in Bellator MMA was the eighth year in the history of Bellator MMA, a mixed martial arts promoter based in the United States. Bellator held 23 events in 2016. Background 2016 is notable for the launch of sibling promotion Bellator Kickbox ...

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 Brandon Girtz (born March 6, 1985) is an People of the United States, American Mixed martial arts, mixed martial artist. A professional competitor since 2008, Girtz has fought in Bellator MMA, Bellator and King of the Cage. Background Girtz was ...

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 A gogoplata, foot choke "Piroplata" or is a type of chokehold that utilizes the shin bone. This technique is often used in Kodokan Judo, submission grappling, and Brazilian jiu-jitsu. History In the film ''The Essence of Judo'', judoka Kyuzo M ...

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 Novembe ...

on October 16, 2021 at

Bellator 268 Bellator 268: Nemkov vs. Anglickas (also known as ''Bellator Phoenix'') was a mixed martial arts event produced by Bellator MMA that took place on October 16, 2021, at the Footprint Center in Phoenix, Arizona, United States. Background The ev ...

. He won the fight via unanimous decision. Primus faced Alexander Shabliy at

Bellator 282 ''Bellator 282: Mousasi vs. Eblen'' was a mixed martial arts event produced by Bellator MMA that took place on June 24, 2022 at Mohegan Sun Arena in Uncasville, Connecticut, United States. Background Gegard Mousasi defended his Middleweight t ...

on June 24, 2022. He lost the bout via TKO in the second round.

Championships and awards

(One time) *

MMAJunkie.com MMA Junkie is a news website that covers the sport of mixed martial arts (MMA). It was founded in 2006, and is owned by Gannett Company since 2011. The site and its content have been featured in ''Time (magazine), Time'' magazine'', ''ESPN The Ma ...

**2019 May Submission of the Month

Mixed martial arts record

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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

Background

Mixed martial arts career

Early career

Bellator MMA

Bellator Lightweight World Champion

Post-title era

Championships and awards

Mixed martial arts record

See also

References