Bellator MMA continue to piece together a historic card with the announcement that lightweight champion Michael Chandler will defend his title against Brent Primus at Bellator NYC, on June 24 at New York’s Madison Square Garden.
Ariel Helwani of MMA Fighting confirmed with the promotion on Thursday.
This news comes after the Viacom owned promotion confirmed that Bellator NYC will mark the promotion’s first-ever event in New York City as well as becoming only the second PPV event in the promotion’s history. Bellator have also announced that the Fedor Emelianenko vs. Matt Mittrione rematch is set as the co-main event with bitter rivals Chael Sonnen and Wanderlei Silva headlining the card.
Chandler is currently riding a four-fight win streak and enters the bout off the back of a successful title defense against former UFC champion Benson Henderson in November of last year. On the way to his four-bout win streak the 30-year-old won the belt for the second time in his career when he secured a first round knockout victory over Patricky Freire in June 2016 as well as wins over David Rickels and Derek Campos. He will be hoping to successfully defend his belt for a second consecutive fight when the two meet on June 24.
Primus is currently undefeated in his professional career holding a perfect record of 5-0 under the Bellator banner. The 31-year-old has only fought four times in the last four years but will look to capture the lightweight belt after a 14-month layoff from the sport. Prior to his time away Primus secured a split decision win over Gleristone Santos in April 2016 and has also secured a TKO victory over Chris Jones as well as a split decision win over welterweight top contender Derek Anderson.
