In the main event of Bellator 289, bantamweight rivals are finally set to meet in the cage for a semi-final fight to decide who will be moving onto the finale of the bantamweight grand prix.
The interim bantamweight champion Raufeon Stots (18-1) will be taking on Danny Sabatello (13-1).
Read along for a fight breakdown and for all the Stots vs Sabatello best bets coming this week for Bellator 289.
Stots vs. Sabatello Information
- Venue and Location: Mohegan Sun Arena, Uncasville, Connecticut, United States
- Date: December 09, 2022
- How to Watch: Showtime
Last Fight Records
Stots beat Juan Archuleta via head kick KO in his last appearance stepping foot in the Bellator cage. Sabatello beat Leandro Higo via unanimous decision back in June of this year.
Raufeon Stots vs. Danny Sabatello Betting Analysis
Raufeon Stots
The interim champion Raufeon Stots has a solid resume in his professional MMA career. He is currently on a 10-fight winning streak throughout his stints in LFA and now Bellator.
In fact, the last and only person he has lost to is current top 5 UFC bantamweight Merab Dvalishvili in 2017.
Stots at Bellator
Stots is 6-0 in Bellator, including big wins over Magomed Magomedov in 2021, and an impressive KO performance over Juan Archuleta for the interim title earlier this year. He has 4 KO wins and 4 submission wins in his MMA career.
Raufeon Stots is also a 2-time Division II National Wrestling champion at 149 lbs. He won those titles when he was wrestling at Nebraska-Kearney back in 2012 and 2013.
Danny Sabatello
Danny “The Italian Gangster” Sabatello is an upcoming prospect with a lot of talent and a lot of charisma outside the cage.
This fight with Stots seems to have been on the Bellator fight schedule for a year, with how long these two have been talking back and forth over social media and in person.
Sabatello’s Winning Streak
Sabatello is on a 7-fight winning streak since his one and only loss against former UFC fighter Irwin Rivera back in 2019.
Sabatello started his professional MMA career a whole year after the last time that Stots has lost a fight.
The Italian Gangster has 3 KO’s and 4 submission victories on his 13-win MMA record, with all decision wins while he has been fighting in Bellator.
He has clearly made leaps in his skills every fight after joining the famous American Top Team gym in Coconut Creek, Florida.
Sabatello went on Dana White’s Contender Series back in 2020. He won that fight but it was not enough to earn a UFC contract.
It seems like he has taken a page out of Colby Covington’s book to increase his stock as a fighter with charisma, to make up for the wrestling-heavy style that may be boring to fans.
With both these fighters having a heavy wrestling background, it will be interesting to see how they plan on attacking each other in the cage offensively.
Sabatello has Division I wrestling experience in the Big 10 conference, qualifying for the NCAA Championships three times.
Odds Breakdown
Raufeon Stots
Raufeon Stots is the -160 betting favorite in his main event fight against Sabatello. There are currently no prop bets available at major sportsbooks, but those will come out as this fight week progresses.
Being the betting favorite is not a new thing for Stots. The only fight he has been the betting underdog in was when he went up against Magomed Magomedov last year; where he was a massive +310 underdog in the closing lines.
Danny Sabatello
Sabatello is the underdog in this main event fight with odds at +130. That is a lot of value in a guy with a lot of skill. Keep an eye on the way that line trends as we get closer to fight night.
This is the second time that Sabatello has been the underdog, according to UFC odds. The other was in his debut against Brett Johns, where he was the +220 underdog.
These odds will be very interesting to look at as we figure out the Stots vs Sabatello best bets.
Raufeon Stots vs. Danny Sabatello Betting Pick and Prediction
This is a very close fight to make Bellator picks on. Both these fighters have excellent wrestling abilities, which might cancel each other out like we have seen in a lot of big MMA fights between two wrestle-heavy fighters.
Stots clearly has a lot more paths to victory than Sabatello. Stots has really increased his skills throughout the years with his kicks and uses a ton of activity and volume throughout the fight.
He is even very dangerous from his back, using elbows and throwing up submissions.
Sabatello basically has one way to win this fight. That is to take Stots down, grind him up against the cage, and win on control time.
Like we said earlier, Sabatello has a very boring style of fighting, and that is probably why he is starting to sell this fight in the leadup to it.
Who to Bet On?
It is going to be very tough for Sabatello to take Stots down. If he does, Stots just needs to use his skills from his back and be very active with creating scrambles and trying to do damage from the bottom.
The Stots vs Sabatello best bets all lean in favor for the current interim champion. Stots will have way more weapons to use and paths to victory in this fight. His odds as a slight favorite makes for a great bet with a lot of value.
Don’t be surprised if we see a TKO/KO out of Stots when he starts putting the pressure and volume on Sabatello after stuffing his takedowns.
UFC Pick: Stots (-160)
UFC Pick:: Stots to win via TKO/KO.
If you love sports and want more sports betting information follow us as @InsidersBetDig on Twitter and sign up to our mailing list for free betting picks.