Bellator 289: Raufeon Stots beats Danny Sabatello to retain interim title
- Published
Stots' win over Sabatello extended his record to 19 wins and one defeat
Raufeon Stots edged bitter rival Danny Sabatello by split decision to retain the interim bantamweight title at Bellator 289 in Connecticut.
Stots, 33, was controlled by fellow American Sabatello, 29, for periods but out-struck him to reach the final of the Bantamweight World Grand Prix.
He will face Patchy Mix after the American submitted Magomed Magomedov earlier in the night.
The winner will likely fight Sergio Pettis for the undisputed title.
The division's champion Pettis was forced to pull out of the tournament with injury in March.
That led to an interim title bout between Stots and Juan Archuleta in the quarter-finals, which Stots won to set up the encounter with Sabatello.
Months of venomous verbal exchanges have passed between Stots and Sabatello since the fight was confirmed in June.
While promoting the fight in August, the pair had to be separated live on air during journalist Ariel Helwani's MMA Hour show.
Sabatello was largely booed on his walk to the cage, with Stots receiving the more positive ovation from the crowd inside the Mohegan Sun Arena.
In the first round, Sabatello landed a takedown, revealing the wrestling-heavy game-plan pundits predicted he would look to enforce on Stots.
The fight progressed with Stots excelling in the striking and Sabatello countering by looking to take Stots down.
On the handful of times Sabatello's takedowns were successful, he held position while not inflicting much damage, which is perhaps what swayed the fight in Stots' favour when the judges were scoring.
By the final round Sabatello's nose was bloodied while Stots showed little sign of damage, illustrating the difference in output between the pair.
Both fighters raised their arms and circled the cage when the final bell rung, believing they had done enough for victory, but it was Stots who had his arm raised by the referee, leading to a swift exit for Sabatello.
"He didn't do no damage, I was walking him down the whole time, I got his face bloodied and I'm going to the final," said Stots in the post-fight interview.
"I was thinking separation and damage. He was trying to control me but hugging doesn't win fights."
Victory extends the unbeaten start to Stots' Bellator career to seven, with Sabatello suffering the first defeat of his four fights in the promotion.
Stots was joined in the cage by fellow finalist Mix after the post-fight interview, with the pair engaging in a friendly stare-down.
Carmouche retains title against Velasquez
Carmouche became an MMA world champion in April at her fourth attempt
In the co-main event, American Liz Carmouche retained her flyweight title, winning a rematch with Juliana Velasquez in the second round via an armbar submission.
Carmouche, 38, executed her grappling-heavy game-plan to perfection as she successfully took Brazil's Velasquez down, transitioned to full mount and applied the fight-ending manoeuvre.
Their first fight in April ended in controversial circumstances, with many pundits believing the referee stepped in to halt Carmouche's grounded attack on Velasquez too early.
However, there were no doubts over the manor of victory this time, as Carmouche made the first defence of her championship.
In victory, Carmouche extended her unbeaten streak in Bellator to five wins and inflicted the second defeat of Velasquez's 14-fight career.
Former UFC and Strikeforce title challenger Carmouche has now won 18 of the 25 fights in her 12-year career.
Watch highlights on BBC three at 20:00 GMT on Saturday
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