When it comes to what really caused the injury that put an end to Bellator NYC’s 155-pound title fight, it seems Brent Primus and Michael Chandler are just going to have to agree to disagree.

Primus left the cage on June 24 with a TKO win and Bellator’s lightweight title, but his reign is off to a controversial start. At the root of it stood a mystery leg injury that caused the doctor to deem ex-champ Chandler unfit to continue. If what occurred was, as some said, a freak accident, then what had Primus legitimately done to deserve his title?

Considering the play-by-play account the champ gave MMAjunkie Radio detailing just how he thinks his low kicks caused what was later found to be nerve damage on Chandler’s (16-4 MMA, 13-4 BMMA) leg, Primus (8-0 MMA, 6-0 BMMA) believes he did plenty.

But Chandler does not agree. Now healed, he maintains nerve damage incurred came from him rolling his own ankle.

“Sorry if Brent feels that way,” Chandler told MMAjunkie Radio. “But all I can say is I don’t remember any kind of floppy food syndrome. I didn’t notice any of that until I rolled the ankle. The doctors I spoke to said that makes complete sense. So that’s what I’m going with, and that’s where I’m at. Obviously, Brent thinks it’s from kicks. I think he literally only threw one leg – I mean, the fight was 2 minutes and 22 seconds long.

“The injury happened within 30 seconds of the fight. I don’t know if you guys remember how many kicks were thrown, but how do you do nerve damage, or shut down a nerve, or kill a nerve with two kicks? I don’t even think it’s humanly possible. I’ve been kicked in my leg 70 (thousand) times in my career and way harder than that. So I just don’t see a correlation.”

At the time, the unbeaten Primus said that he was so upset by other people contesting the legitimacy of his conquest that he even had a hard time putting on his new belt. But, the way Chandler sees it, Primus knew from the start that he hadn’t earned it.

“That’s how he’s trying to prove to himself that he is the champion,” Chandler said. “You can tell by his antics after the fight. You can tell by how he acted out of character, how he wouldn’t even look over in my direction, wouldn’t even make eye contact with me. Didn’t even have the class to come over to a man who was sitting on a stool with a possible broken leg and say, ‘Hey, I’m sorry it happened like this, I’ll see you in the rematch.’

“It was almost as if he knew he didn’t deserve that win. He knew that he didn’t deserve to have that belt around his waist. I think he’s a little bit sad. A little bit butt-hurt that his ‘championship run’ has been taken away from him, and he has zero credit. He’s gotten zero credit for beating me – which he should. Whatever, it was an injury.”

That is not all they disagree on when it comes to that night. Even after Chandler was visibly hurt, he managed to land a hard right hand that knocked down Primus. The new champ said that the blow – which he called “a last desperation punch” – didn’t really faze him. Chandler, however, tells a different story.

“Let’s be honest: The ref really screwed up the situation,” Chandler said. “You can’t just stop a fight and call a timeout. I was going to beat Brent Primus on one leg. I had already proven that, that the only substantial damage done in that fight – besides me rolling my own ankle – was when I dropped him and had him rocked and almost knocked him out on one leg.

“So if this was a 13th Century, Me vs. Him, standing in a field, as vikings, and I’m on one leg: I still win that fight to the death, 10 times out of 10. And that’s why Brent Primus is trying to make this big campaign for, ‘Oh, the leg kicks caused this, I’m the champion.'”

The good news is that the recovery process was remarkably fast. The following day, Chandler says he was – albeit carefully – already walking around New York City with his wife. Ten days ago, he was already documenting five-mile runs on his social media. (via Instagram)

As ugly as the injury looked three weeks ago, Chandler says he is now good to go.

“It’s crazy when I say my leg is literally back to normal,” Chandler said.

As far as Chandler’s return goes, it seems both the champ and ex-champ – as well as Bellator CEO Scott Coker – are in agreement that a rematch is imminent. And, with all this back-and-forth, they might’ve hyped the rest of us up in the process.

“There is no scenario or universe in which Brent Primus has the ability to even come close to beating me,” Chandler said. “And I don’t say that disrespectfully. I just say that he’s a part-time fighter.

“Everybody keeps saying he’s a young, hungry guy; he’s 32 years old. He has eight fights. He started fighting in the same year that I did. I’m on my 20th fight, he’s on his eighth fight. He’s a part-time fighter, who just literally tripped into a championship.”

To hear Chandler talk in detail about his injury and recovery, check out the video above.

And for more on Bellator’s upcoming schedule, check out the MMA Rumors section of the site.

MMAjunkie Radio broadcasts Monday-Friday at 1 p.m. ET (10 a.m. PT) live from Mandalay Bay Resort & Casino’s Race & Sports Book. The show is hosted by “Gorgeous” George Garcia and producer Brian “Goze” Garcia. For more information or to download past episodes, go to www.mmajunkie.com/radio.