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Interim Bellator bantamweight champion Raufeon Stots recently defeated Danny Sabatello via split decision in the semi-finals of the promotion's bantamweight Grand Prix at Bellator 289. Meanwhile, Patchy Mix defeated Magomed Magomedov via second-round submission in the other semi-final.
In a recent interview with Sportskeeda MMA, Stots was asked to compare Bellator's bantamweight division to the UFC's. 'Supa' believes the top eight Bellator bantamweights can stand their ground against absolutely anyone in the world in the same weight class.
While he acknowledged that the UFC's division runs much deeper, Stots believes elite Bellator bantamweights can beat their UFC counterparts. The 33-year-old told Giancarlo Aulino in an exclusive interview with Sportskeeda MMA leading up to Bellator 289:
"I think I stack up with anybody in the world. No matter the promotion, anybody in the world, I stack up with. The bantamweight division, I feel like our top eight, I feel like they stick with anybody in the world and in any promotion. Yeah, I think we're just as good as anybody in the world. And I definitely feel like UFC has a deeper division, like they have more athletes. But as far as like skill level at the top, I would put my money on Bellator."
Catch Raufeon Stots' comments below (7:56):
Bellator currently has ten ranked bantamweights, including champion Sergio Pettis. No.4-ranked Bellator bantamweight Magomed Magomedov has previously faced former UFC bantamweight champion Petr Yan twice under the Absolute Championship Berkut banner, going 1-1.
Notably, the only loss of Raufeon Stots' career came against No.2-ranked UFC bantamweight Merab Dvalishvili way back in 2017.
Danny Sabatello believes he won the fight against Raufeon Stots at Bellator 289
The scorecards for the Bellator 289 headliner clash between Danny Sabatello and Raufeon Stots were confusing to say the least. While two of the judges scored the bout 48-47 in favor of Stots, a third judge scored it 50-45 for Sabatello.
Sabatello was seemingly shocked upon hearing the result and stormed out of the cage. 'The Italian Gangster' later stated that both he and his team were confident about him having won the bout. Unable to wrap his head around the scorecards, the 29-year-old said during the post-fight presser:
“I don’t know how the f*ck I lost that fight. I think the judges f*cked this one. I don’t know how one judge has it 50-45, I won every single f*cking round, and then the guy sitting next to him has me lose a close fight. Doesn’t f*cking make sense to me.”
Catch Danny Sabatello's comments below:
