Former Bellator MMA lightweight champion Brent Primus returns to action as part of the PFL World Tournament this Friday, though not against the opponent originally planned.
Initially, Primus (15-4) had been scheduled into a rematch with Alexander Shabliy, who beat him back in 2022 as part of the Bellator lightweight grand prix. With Shabliy withdrawing from the fight, Primus instead faces Vinicius Cenci, with little time to make the adjustment. None, really.
“Really no adjustments. I found out less than a week ago that he was backing out or got injured or something. So I haven’t really had time to train for my new opponent, but man, training for Shabliy, I’m ready,” Primus told Cageside Press during Wednesday’s PFL 3 media day. “Shabliy in my eyes was the toughest guy in the tournament, so I trained my butt off and prepared for him. So I feel like if I’m prepared for Shabliy, I’m prepared for anybody. I am ready.”
While Shabliy is out of the tournament, a number of Bellator names remain, including Mads Burnell and Jay-Jay Wilson. But the man Primus will no doubt have his eye on is almost certainly Gadzhi Rabadanov. The pair faced off in last year’s final, with Rabadanov winning the season, championship, and million dollar purse. That’s a fight Primus no doubt wants back, especially due to the circumstances surrounding it.
“Before I fought Gadzhi, I’d torn my knee completely two months before, and I almost cancelled that fight. But I had a surgeon that called me, was like ‘we’ll drain your knee every Friday, we’ll give you plasma shots so you can make it to this fight,'” Primus revealed. He then went into surgery almost immediately after the loss. “Right after Saudi Arabia when I fought Gadzhi and I lost, I landed on Monday and I had surgery Tuesday morning. I pretty much just rested and healed up and I’m good now. I’m so excited. When I fought Gadzhi I couldn’t wrestle, I couldn’t shoot, I couldn’t kick. Man I’m back, I feel great, I’m going to win this tournament.”
“There’s nobody I’d rather fight right now than Gadzhi. I respect him, he’s the champ, he comes from a great champ, he’s the man. But I think I can beat him if I’m healthy and ready, and I’m health and ready and I’m going to win this tournament. And we’re going to go at it again.”
In an earlier interview with Cageside Press, shortly before Shabliy pulled out of the fight, Brent Primus reacted to his old home of Bellator MMA being mothballed, folded into the PFL.
“It’s always sad, seeing somebody that you worked for, whatever, fight for, and especially Bellator, they signed me when I was only 2-0, I only had two professional fights. They signed me, gave me an opportunity, so I’ll always be grateful for that. But things happen for a reason,” stated Primus. “Now I’m fighting for PFL, I love PFL, I love the platform and everything. It is what it is. I had a good time for Bellator for sure, obviously I fought at Madison Square Garden, won the title there, I fought Benson Henderson. But things change, and here we are. Like I said, I’m excited to fight for PFL, it’s going to be great.”
Watch our interview with PFL 3’s Brent Primus above, and his media day appearance below.
