Tag: Danny Sabatello

Danny Sabatello issues warning to Leandro Higo ahead of Bellator grand prix: ‘You suck and I’m good’

Danny Sabatello gave an expletive-filled explanation as to why he’ll win the bantamweight grand prix after his Bellator 278 win.

HONOLULU – [autotag]Danny Sabatello[/autotag] punched his ticket into the eight-man Bellator bantamweight grand prix on Friday, and he’s extremely confident he’ll go through the field to win it at all.

Sabatello (12-1 MMA, 2-0 BMMA) punched his ticket into the tournament with a one-way beatdown of Jornel Lugo at Bellator 278, using a relentless grappling approach to win a unanimous decision in a wild card matchup that placed him into the semifinal round, where he’ll take on [autotag]Leandro Higo[/autotag].

After producing a stellar performance against Lugo, there’s no doubt in Sabatello’s mind he’s going to keep the momentum going against Higo (21-5 MMA, 3-4 BMMA), who he views as a very favorable matchup.

“There’s no way there’s a guy out there that can beat me right now,” Sabatello told MMA Junkie and other reporters post-fight at Bellator 278. “If I can do that to a guy that’s a stud like Jornel Lugo, 8-0, undefeated, really f*cking talented and skillful fighter, than I can beat anybody. And now Leandro Higo is f*cking next. If you think I dominated Lugo, just wait and see what I do to Higo.

“Leandro, you’re a f*cking great matchup for me because you suck and I’m good. This is going to be a poetic performance for me.”

Sabatello, who trains out of American Top Team in Coconut Creek, Fla., said his grand prix quarterfinal with Higo is scheduled for June 24 at Mohegan Sun Arena in Uncasville, Conn. He plans to take or two days to celebrate his win over Lugo before jumping back into training camp, where he intends to build on his skillset even further.

At just 29, Sabatello is confident he’s merely scratching the surface of his capabilities, and he expects only better from himself as he attempts to come out of the grand prix with the interim 135-pound title and a $1 million prize.

“You can’t really mimic (my style),” Sabatello said. “Nobody out there has my type of pressure. I guess you could put a 7,000-ton bolder on you and say, ‘This is Sabatello,’ but I don’t even think that would do justice. There’s no one out there that mimics my style and has my skills and my capabilities. I’m only getting f*cking better from here.”

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Bellator 278 results: Enrique Barzola, Danny Sabatello enter Bellator grand prix after wild card wins

Dominant performances earned two fighters entry into the Bellator grand prix quarterfinal.

HONOLULU – For the first time in Bellator history, wild card bouts were in play for a grand prix, and they both took place Friday.

At Bellator 278, [autotag]Danny Sabatello[/autotag] and [autotag]Enrique Barzola[/autotag] advanced into the quarterfinal round of the tournament with dominant victories at Neal S. Blaisdell Center.

Sabatello (12-1 MMA, 2-0 BMMA) competed first with a wrestling-based, ground-and-pound-heavy, lopsided decision win over Jornel Lugo (8-1 MMA, 5-1 BMMA). There was no love lost coming into the matchup, as is usually the case with fights Sabatello partakes in.

Relentless pacing and takedowns opened up the door for ground strikes from Sabatello as Lugo struggled to escape. Lugo did just enough to avoid a finish, but not enough to avoid 10-8 scorecards from the judges. Sabatello swept the scorecards with unanimous 30-26s across the board.

The co-main event came next, as Barzola (18-5-1 MMA, 2-0 BMMA) defeated Nikita Mikhailov (9-2 MMA, 2-1 BMMA) via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27).

A more competitive fight than the first wild card bout of the evening, the contest was still largely dominant, this time in favor of Barzola. Another wrestling-heavy attack, Barzola mixed together all aspects of his ground game to threaten submissions and maintain control.

At multiple points in the fight, Barzola appeared to have a deep submission locked, but Fedor Emelianenko protege Mikhailov wiggled and bucked his way out of danger. While Mikhailov hung tough defensively, the lack of offense was obvious and led to him losing all three rounds from all three judges.

With the wins, both fighters have their next matchups already booked for June 24 at Bellator 282. The event takes place at Mohegan Sun Arena. Sabatello will face Pitbull Brothers’ underling Leandro Higo (21-5 MMA, 4-3 BMMA). On the same card, Barzola will battle Zabit Magomedsharipov teammate Magomed Magomedov (18-2 MMA, 2-1 BMMA).

Bellator 278 took place Friday at Neal S. Blaisdell Center as the first of a two-night doubleheader at the venue.

The up-to-the-minute Bellator 278 results include:

  • Champ Juliana Velasquez vs. Liz Carmouche – for women’s flyweight title
  • Enrique Barzola def. Nikita Mikhailov via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27) – bantamweight grand prix wild card
  •  Danny Sabatello def. Jornel Lugo via unanimous decision (30-26, 30-26, 30-26) – bantamweight grand prix wild card
  • Grant Neal def. Christian Edwards via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)
  • Manny Muro def. Nate Andrews via split decision (29-28, 28-29, 29-28)
  • Weber Almeida def. Fabricio Franco via TKO (referee stoppage) – Round 1, 3:01
  • Dante Schiro def. Scotty Hao via TKO (punches) – Round 3, 1:03
  • Blake Perry def. Makoa Cooper via submission (anaconda choke) – Round 2, 4:14

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Bellator adds two wild card bouts, four fighters to bantamweight grand prix

Bellator’s bantamweight grand prix has been altered in the wake of Sergio Pettis and James Gallagher withdrawing.

The Bellator bantamweight grand prix took two big hits this week, leaving the promotion to scramble for a solution that has been found. The original eight-man tournament has become a 10-man tournament.

Thursday, Bellator announced two “wild card” bouts that feature four new fighters, which will take place April 22 at Bellator 278 in Honolulu. In one wild-card matchup, [autotag]Jornel Lugo[/autotag] meets [autotag]Danny Sabatello[/autotag]. On the other side of the bracket, a previously booked matchup between [autotag]Enrique Barzola[/autotag] and [autotag]Josh Hill[/autotag] becomes a wild-card bout. The winner of each fight will advance to the quarterfinals.

The winner of Lugo (8-0 MMA, 4-0 BMMA) vs. Sabatello (11-1 MMA, 1-0 BMMA) will move on to fight Leandro Higo, while the winner of Barzola (17-5-2 MMA, 1-0 BMMA) vs. Hill (21-4 MMA, 3-1 BMMA) will advance to face Magomed Magomedov.

The tournament shakeup comes on the heels of injury withdrawals from champion Sergio Pettis and James Gallagher earlier this week. Pettis had been booked to defend his title against Raufeon Stots, who now will meet former champ Juan Archuleta April 23 at Bellator 279. Gallagher had yet to be officially booked but was expected to be paired with Magomedov in a quarterfinal matchup.

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With the tournament additions, here is the latest Bellator 278 lineup:

  • Champ Juliana Velasquez vs. Liz Carmouche – for women’s flyweight title
  • Jornel Lugo vs. Danny Sabatello – bantamweight grand prix wild card
  • Enrique Barzola vs. Josh Hill – bantamweight grand prix wild card
  • Cee Jay Hamilton vs. Jared Scoggins

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Brett Johns vs. Erik Perez in the works for Bellator 268

A bantamweight bout between Brett Johns and Erik Perez is in the works for Bellator 268.

A key Bellator bantamweight matchup is coming this fall.

A bout between veterans [autotag]Brett Johns[/autotag] and [autotag]Erik Perez[/autotag] is in the works for Bellator 268 on Oct. 16., MMA Junkie has learned from multiple sources close to the situation.

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Johns (17-3 MMA, 0-1 BMMA) is in search of his first win in Bellator, as he lost to [autotag]Danny Sabatello[/autotag] in his promotional debut back in May at Bellator 259. Prior to that, the Welsh fighter was on a two-fight winning streak with wins in the UFC over Montel Jackson and Tony Gravely.

Meanwhile, Perez (20-8 MMA, 1-2 BMMA) is looking to build momentum under the Bellator banner. “Goyito” picked up his first Bellator win by outpointing Blaine Shutt at Bellator 259 in May. He was on a two-fight losing streak that plagued his start in Bellator prior to the win over Shutt.

Bellator 268 takes place at the Footprint Center in Phoenix, featuring light heavyweight grand prix semifinal bouts [autotag]Vadim Nemkov[/autotag] vs. [autotag]Anthony Johnson[/autotag] and [autotag]Corey Anderson[/autotag] vs. [autotag]Ryan Bader[/autotag].

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Matchup Roundup: New UFC and Bellator fights announced in the past week (July 26-Aug. 1)

All the UFC and Bellator fight announcements that were broken or confirmed by MMA Junkie in the past week.

MMA fight announcements are hard to follow. With so many outlets and channels available, it’s nearly impossible to organize.

But here at MMA Junkie, we’ve got your back.

Each week, we’ll compile all the newly surfaced fights in one spot. Every Monday, expect a feature listing everything you might have missed from the UFC or Bellator.

Here are the fight announcements that were broken or confirmed by MMA Junkie from July 26-Aug. 1:

With Matheus Mattos out, Brett Johns faces Titan FC champ Danny Sabatello at Bellator 259

Just a week out from his Bellator debut, Brett Johns is getting a new opponent.

Just a week out from his Bellator debut, [autotag]Brett Johns[/autotag] is getting a new opponent.

Johns (17-2 MMA, 0-0 BMMA), who was originally scheduled to face [autotag]Matheus Mattos[/autotag], will now take on Titan FC bantamweight champion [autotag]Danny Sabatello[/autotag] (10-1 MMA, 0-0 BMMA) at Bellator 259, promotion officials announced Thursday.

Bellator 259 takes place May 21 at Mohegan Sun Arena in Uncasville, Conn. The main card airs on Showtime following prelims on MMA Junkie.

Johns took to Instagram to say that Mattos was forced to withdraw due to a positive COVID-19 test.

“Unfortunately Matteus Mattos has contracted covid-19 as is unable to fight.

But @bellatormma have worked hard to find me a replacement. Now I will be fighting Former Titan FC World Champion Danny Sabatello. It’s a very tough fight. But I’m ready to go.

Respect to Danny for stepping up!”

https://www.instagram.com/p/CO2VaxBNu4j/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link

After testing free agency, Johns opted to sign with Bellator in October. The 29-year-old Welshman departed the UFC having won two straight over Tony Gravely and Montel Jackson. His only two octagon losses have come to top contender Pedro Munhoz and current UFC bantamweight champ Aljamain Sterling.

Sabatello, who failed to secure a UFC contract after beating Taylor Moore on Dana White’s Contender Series 35 this past November, notched his first title defense when he scored a lopsided decision over Da’Mon Blackshear at Titan FC 67 in February. The American Top Team fighter will get another shot at the big leagues when he makes his Bellator debut on just a week’s notice against Johns.

With the change, the Bellator 259 lineup now includes:

MAIN CARD (Showtime, 9 p.m. ET)

  • Champ Cris Cyborg vs. Leslie Smith – for women’s featherweight title
  • Darrion Caldwell vs. Leandro Higo
  • Fabian Edwards vs. Austin Vanderford
  • Maycon Mendonca vs. Jaleel Willis
  • Christian Edwards vs. Ben Parrish

PRELIMINARY CARD (MMA Junkie, 5:30 p.m. ET)

  • Nate Andrews vs. Saad Awad
  • Tyree Fortune vs. Grant Neal
  • Sumiko Inaba vs. Kristina Katsikis
  • Sean Felton vs. Aviv Gozali
  • Hannah Guy vs. Valerie Loureda
  • Davion Franklin vs. Tyler King
  • Janay Harding vs. Leah McCourt
  • Alfie Davis vs. Alexander Shabliy
  • Brett Johns vs. Danny Sabatello

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Titan FC 67 results: Danny Sabatello blasts boo-birds after dominant title defense

A pair of title fights closed the show at Titan FC 68 on Friday with one champ defending and another being crowned.

[autotag]Danny Sabatello[/autotag] was levels above [autotag]Da’Mon Blackshear[/autotag] on the ground at Titan FC 67 on Friday, and it led to a one-sided main event.

Sabatello (10-1) put his grappling to use over and over throughout the course of five rounds, and Blackshear (8-4) had no answer. As a result, Sabatello left the cage with a unanimous decision victory, as he successfully defended his Titan FC bantamweight title for the first time. The scores were 50-45, 50-45 and 49-46 at the InterContinental Miami in Miami, Fla.

Sabatello’s strategy was no secret from the outset. He attacked with takedowns and established a presence from top position in the first round. It was a route from there on out, with Sabatello controlling Blackshear in the grappling positions, chipping away with ground-and-pound and going for submissions.

The semi-conservative approach from Sabatello garnered come displeasure from the small crowd in attendance as well as the commentary team. Nevertheless, he got his hand raised in his first fight since not receiving a UFC contract for his dominant win at Dana White’s Contender Series 35 in November.

He didn’t care, though, and shared his thoughts to anyone who took issue with his style.

“If you (expletive) (expletives) want to boo me, that’s fine,” Sabatello said in his post-fight interview. “But this is mixed martial arts. You don’t like? Come (expletive) beat me. If it’s not exciting, I don’t give a (expletive). Come beat me. You won’t.”

Blackshear, who, according to the broadcast experienced a travel crisis en route to the event, missed the 145-pound championship limit by three pounds, and would have been ineligible to leave as champion.

Sabatello would have still kept the title had he lost, but it didn’t matter in the end, because he delivered a dominant victory.

Prior to Sabatello’s triumph in the main event, [autotag]Olivier Murad[/autotag] (5-0) claimed the vacant Titan FC featherweight belt in the event co-headliner in a competitive unanimous decision win over [autotag]Muhammad Naimov[/autotag] (5-2).

Complete Titan FC 67 result included:

  • Danny Sabatello def. Da’Mon Blackshear via unanimous decision unanimous decision (50-45, 50-45, 49-46)
  • Olivier Murad def. Muhammad Naimov via unanimous decision (49-46, 48-47, 48-47) – to win vacant featherweight title
  • [autotag]Alberto Montes[/autotag] def. [autotag]Richie Santiago[/autotag] via submission (anaconda choke) – Round 1, 2:01
  • [autotag]Dilano Taylo[/autotag]r def. [autotag]Lewis Gonzalez[/autotag] via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)
  • [autotag]Evelyn Martins[/autotag] def. [autotag]Melissa Croden[/autotag] via split decision (28-29, 29-28, 29-28)
  • [autotag]Adrian Garcia[/autotag] def. [autotag]Rudy Isidro[/autotag] via TKO (body kick) – Round 1, 4:27
  • [autotag]Adi Alic[/autotag] def. [autotag]Carlos Espinosa[/autotag] via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)