Brent Primus proved he belonged, but Michael Chandler showed he was simply better.
After a disputed win 18 months ago gave Primus the lightweight world title, Chandler won it back Friday night at Blaisdell Arena in the main event of Bellator 212: Salute The Troops.
A crowd of 2,500 military service members, family and friends watched Chandler win the 155-pound belt for the third time in his career by unanimous decision, winning 50-45 on all three scorecards.
“That was an awesome performance by Brent Primus. That guy came in here ready to defend that belt,” said Chandler, who improved to 19-4 in his career. “He is who he says he is. Heck of a performance. He made me earn every second of that fight.”
Chandler out-wrestled Primus and stuck to him like a blanket, ending the first four rounds on top after delivering a mauling on the ground.
Primus dished out his best offense early in rounds, clipping Chandler with a left in the second. Primus came close to ending the fight with a rear-naked choke, but Chandler managed to escape and then reverse positions, taking the top and delivering a steady dose of ground-and-pound.
“Not close,” Chandler said of the choke. “You saw me give the thumbs up, man. It was there, but it was a little bit too high.”
Chandler needed only 30 seconds to secure the takedown in the final round and continued the onslaught. He ended the fight with a jumping knee and a final takedown as the final horn sounded.
“I was able to get on top and do some damage,” Chandler said.
Primus dropped to 8-1, tasting defeat for the first time. It was his first defense of the title since beating Chandler by TKO in June 2017, when doctors stopped the fight in the first round due to a lower leg injury suffered by Chandler.
There was no doubt about this fight.
Former UFC heavyweight champion Frank Mir lost his fourth consecutive fight when he tapped out to strikes in the second round against Javy Ayala in the co-main event.
Featherweight A.J. McKee extended his Bellator record with his 13th consecutive win, a first-round submission of Daniel Crawford by anaconda choke.
McKee, who debuted in the organization in 2015, is only 23 years old and has earned seven of those wins by first-round stoppage.
“If I get (the choke) around the neck, it’s over with,” McKee said in the cage. “That is my bread and butter. I love getting around the neck and choking people out like snakes.”
Brazil’s Juliana Velasquez (8-0) put herself in the 125-pound title hunt with a split-decision win over Alejandra Lara.
Velasquez, now 3-0 in Bellator, will keep an interested eye on tonight’s flyweight title fight between Ilima-Lei Macfarlane and Valerie Letourneau after beating Lara, who lost by third-round submission to Macfarlane in June.
Ewa Beach’s Toby Misech had the best performance on the undercard, stopping Ed Thommes in the third round of a 145-pound fight.
Misech (11-6), who had won four in a row before losing a fight on Dana White’s Contender Series in July that may have earned him a UFC contract, badly injured Thommes with a short left hook up on the cage in the first round.
It opened up a nasty cut under Thommes’ right eye, forcing a ringside doctor to take a look at it toward the end of the round.
The fight continued and Misech poured it on before a straight left and a jumping knee in the third round crumpled Thommes for the final time.
Hawaii went 0-4 against mainland competition in the prelims, with Robson Gracie, the younger brother of Renzo, winning his pro debut with a second-round submission of Waianae’s Brysen Bolahao by rear-naked choke.
