Despite fighting for a championship this Friday night (Dec. 14), Michael Chandler values big fights more at this stage of his career.

Chandler anticipates a purge at Bellator 212, but it seems like the lightweight title is an afterthought to him. If Chandler can defeat champion Brent Primus, then he will have held the Bellator lightweight title for the third time. While Chandler has been on and off at the top of Bellator’s 155-pound division, some fresh match-ups might very well be on the way.

The two-time Bellator lightweight kingpin says that while gold is still nice, he wants to have fights that’ll build his legacy:

“It means a lot to me to be the Bellator champion. So I never want to discredit that. But to me, it’s about the big fights, the eyeballs, the exciting fights, the fights that get me pumped up about what I do. So it’s not necessarily the belt at the end of the tunnel, it’s the win and the performance and the motivation and inspiration to everyone who’s been following my career for all these years. After I dispose of the current champion, there’s really no clear No. 1 contender. There’s no clear lightweight that’s proven themselves that they deserve another shot at the title or a shot at the title.”

Bellator 212 will take place inside the Neal S. Blaisdell Arena in Honolulu, Hawaii. The event is part of a doubleheader as the following night, Bellator 213 will take place at the same venue.