Brent Primus believes he should have been part of Bellator’s lightweight grand prix all along.
The former 155lb champ was passed over, initially, when the tournament was announced earlier this year. However, a failed drug test by Sidney Outlaw, revealed this past February, opened the door for Primus to step in, leading to his quarterfinal match-up with Mansour Barnaoui at Bellator 296 this Saturday.
“Yeah. I feel like this is where I should have been in the first place,” Primus (11-3) told Cageside Press during Wednesday’s Bellator 296 media day. “I was not happy, I literally prayed every single day that something would happen and I’d get in here, and here I am.”
The winner of Primus vs. Branaoui will move on in the tournament, and secure the next shot at gold as well. It’s hard, with that in mind, not to see Primus vs. Barnaoui as a title eliminator on top of a fight in the grand prix.
“I think about it, it’s going to be awesome,” said Primus, asked about whether he’s been looking ahead at a fight with champ Usman Nurmagomedov. “But at the same time, I’ve got a tough challenge ahead of my on Friday. Mansour is no joke, so I can’t take him lightly and look past him. I’m going to go out there and fight like my life depends on it, and I’m going to get the hand raised. And then yeah, we’ll see man. Usman’s next.”
One unique wrinkle in Primus vs. Barnaoui match-up is Mansour Baranoui’s status as a tournament winner in South Korean promotion ROAD FC. Much will be made of that heading into Bellator 296 this Friday — perhaps too much.
“Every fight’s different like you said. I don’t think he’s fought anybody with my skill set, and this is different, man. This is Bellator,” Primus exclaimed. “I think we’re a lot better fighters than ROAD FC. It’s different. If he just thinks he won ROAD FC and he’s going come here and just smoke everybody in this tournament, I think he’s going to have long nights. You can’t be overlooking anybody in this sport. Anything can happen.”
Watch the full Bellator 296 media day appearance by Brent Primus above.
