Chandler reveals he didn't break ankle in surreal loss to Primus
Michael Chandler has dodged a bullet.
In a Monday appearance on "The MMA Hour," the 31-year-old announced he didn't break any bones in his TKO loss to Brent Primus, a bout which cost Chandler the lightweight title due to a freak ankle injury he suffered in the first round at Saturday's Bellator NYC.
Chandler was initially believed to have suffered a broken ankle from a kick Primus uncorked on his left leg. He revealed Monday that he had merely sustained nerve damage in the fight, but his opponent was not responsible for the injury.
"When I stepped back and rolled my ankle, and it rolled underneath me and bent seven ways to Sunday," Chandler said. "I think I stretched it so back that I jacked up the nerve, and I had zero nerve function in my left leg from the knee down, basically."
Watch: Primus wins Bellator lightweight title after Chandler suffers ankle injury
The former champ's leg buckled after a wild sequence that saw him tag Primus with a right hand, prompting referee Todd Anderson to call a stop to the action for the limb to be examined by cageside doctors. Primus was ultimately ruled the winner - and new Bellator lightweight king - when Chandler was deemed unfit to continue. Chandler didn't outright blame the doctors for costing him his title, but he maintained he could have fought on and retained the strap. He'll now settle for a rematch in the fall.
"I was the only man to land a punch in that fight, and it put him on his butt. Fifteen seconds later, the fight is stopped. So that's the unfortunate part. I think, honestly, I got a beat on him. I got my distance, I realized the left leg was not working, but the right hand was cocked and it was ready to go. I would have finished him.
"If this was the 18th century, and I was in the middle of a field, and it was me and Brent Primus and I had one leg to stand on, and we're fighting to the death, I win that fight 100 times out of 100."
The unceremonious end to the fight marked Chandler's first loss by stoppage since November 2014.