Raufeon Stots on Danny Sabatello’s game plan in Bellator 289 showdown: ‘I think it’s a coward way to fight’
After sharing 25 minutes with his rival, Raufeon Stots was not impressed with Danny Sabatello’s skill set.
Stots defeated Sabatello via split decision in the main event of Bellator 289, which included a high controversial 50-45 scorecard in Sabatello’s favor from Douglas Crosby, to retain his interim bantamweight title and move on the finals of the Bellator bantamweight grand prix.
Sabatello, as expected, utilized his high-level grappling but was unable to land anything significant in those positions, which Stots was not a fan of.
“He fought to the best of his ability, but I think it’s a coward way to fight,” Stots said on The MMA Hour. “I don’t necessarily think wrestling is a coward’s way to fight, I just think he tries to use his wrestling to impose a lackluster fight. He tried to impose that in the fight, and I just think that’s a b**** way to go.
“I think he should progress, get better — either submissions or ground and pound. He don’t fight to dominate, he fights to just out-position you, and I feel like that’s kind of a b**** way to go.”
Despite how Stots felt about Sabatello’s game plan, the fight was a closely contested one, but Stots being able to accumulate damage seemed to be the difference maker.
When asked if Stots was hurt, or in any danger throughout the five-round contest, “Supa” confirmed he wasn’t at all.
“Not one point [in the fight] did he hurt me,” Stots said. “Even when he would land, that’s probably the least amount of pain I’ve felt after a fight or during a fight, or the least threatened that I’ve felt. At no point — as far as damage, I [didn’t feel] threatened at [any] point.
“I think I won two, three, and it can be argued that I won four, but definitely two, three, and five.”
Stots will now meet Patchy Mix in the tournament finale for $1 million at a yet to be announced date, with the winner going on to meet the injured Sergio Pettis to unify the titles.
After the fight, Stots said he ran into Sabatello at Mohegan Sun in Uncasville, Conn. There was no shaking of hands or any real pleasantries exchanged.
“I had seen him after coming down the escalator,” Stots explained. “I don’t like the dude, I’ll never like the dude, but he said something like, ‘Yeah, I’ll see you again,’ or something like that. And I was like, ‘Better luck next time, motherf*****, and f*** you, go about your merry way.’
“I’ll never bury the hatchet, not in the foreseeable future. I just don’t like him. I don’t like the way he carries himself. He represents a lot of stuff I don’t f*** with, and he proved it to me when he walked out [of the cage] pissed off because it didn’t go his way like a little b****.
“I think my classification of a b**** is different from his, because I feel like he’s the person that was handed a lot of stuff in life. I do agree he worked for a lot of stuff, but I feel like if something doesn’t go his way, he’s a baby about it. And that’s something I don’t f*** with.”