Photo: (Bellator/Lucas Noonan)
Raufeon Stots Calls Sabatello The Villain he Needed After Bellator 289
Raufeon Stots retains the interim title and moved forward in the Bellator bantamweight World Grand Prix at Bellator 289. He picked up a split-decision victory over Danny Sabatello and moves one step closer to winning the million-dollar prize tournament. Stots proved to be the better fighter and while the lead-up to the main event was fun, Stots gave credit to Sabatello for being the other half of the hype that helped make the fight.
In the post-fight presser, Stots admitted the fight was great for his career. “I think [Sabatello] was great for my career. He was a great step for me. I needed a villain, someone people thought could hang with me and challenge me.”
With the split decision, although odd Stots had to admit that Sabatello was better than he expected. Stots said, “ His skills were better than I thought they were, but I still won, so I’m still gonna talk shit to him… I think he’ll be back. I think he’ll learn from this loss and be better for it. Hopefully, I see him again, because this was a fun fight and a fun buildup.”
The build-up was something Stots seemed interested in back in June when he had desk duty for Bellator 282 when the fight was booked after Sabatello’s win over Leandro Higo. Fans had a lot of fun between then and now, but moving ahead, Stots will now have to prepare for the submission skills of Patchy Mix who also advanced to the finals with a first-round submission over Magomed Magomedov.
When looking ahead to that fight, Stots said, “I know Patchy’s good on the ground, but you’re not better than me at mixed martial arts. You’ve got to get past a lot of things to get to that position. I’ve got amazing submission defense and wrestling. I’m looking forward to that fight because he’s proving himself as one of the greats. He’s deserving of the spot. I’m looking forward to putting my fist through the gap in his teeth.”
Mix has been a man of little words and a lot of action since fighting for Bellator, while the fight build-up may not be what it was with Sabatello, the match between Mix and Stots is certainly one fans won’t want to miss.
