CHICAGO – It didn’t take long for Raufeon Stots and Danny Sabatello to find themselves in one of the most heated rivalries in Bellator history.
Interim bantamweight champion Stots (18-1 MMA, 6-0 BMMA) meets Sabatello (13-1 MMA, 3-0 BMMA) on Dec. 9 in the Bellator 289 main event at Mohegan Sun Arena in Uncasville, Conn.
Their fight is one of two semifinals in the ongoing bantamweight grand prix. Patchy Mix takes on Magomed Magomedov on the other side of the bracket, and the winners will fight in the final sometime in 2023 to wrap up the $1 million tournament.
Sabatello’s level of trash talk and bravado is at a rare level, and Stots’ level isn’t far behind, at least while engaging with Sabatello.
This past Friday at Bellator 288, the two got into the cage for a faceoff to promote their headliner, now less than three weeks away. But before that, they met the media backstage at Wintrust Arena in Chicago.
All MMA Junkie had to do was essentially give them a shot to go off on each other without so much as a real question. Check out their heated exchanges, as well as a a faceoff, in the video above.
For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for Bellator 289.
