After five rounds of nip and tuck action, Raufeon Stots took a split decision win over Danny Sabatello in the main event of Bellator 289 to both retain his interim bantamweight championship and advance to the Bantamweight World Grand Prix tournament finals. After the scores were read, a furious Sabatello stormed out of the cage, but it was a failure to do any damage throughout the fight that caused Sabatello to come up short in his bid for gold.
Stots worked to use kicks and punches from distance throughout the fight, knowing Sabatello would be looking to use his wrestling before all else.
Throughout the fight, Sabatello scored takedowns, but did nothing on the ground other than hold Stots and look to grind out minutes of ground control. Even with Sabatello having ground control, Stots threatened with kneebars or elbows. The difference in approach, with Stots looking to do damage and Sabatello simply looking for control, was the determining factor in the fight.
"I was definitely thinking separation and damage," Stots said after the fight. "He was trying to hold me and hug my nuts all fight. But hugging nuts don't win fights, damage does."
Sabatello was clearly frustrated when the final scorecards were read, feelings likely spurred on when the first official scorecard was read as 50-45 in his favor. The other two cards both read 48-47 in Stots' favor, allowing the interim champion to retain his title and advance to the tournament finals and a chance to win a $1 million prize.
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"He didn't do no damage," Stots said. "I was walking him down the whole time. I got his face bloody ... We're moving on to the finals, baby."
Standing across the cage from Stots in the tournament finals will be Patchy Mix. Mix put on a career-best performance earlier in the night, submitting Magomed Magomedov in the second round of the night's other semifinal bout.
Mix frustrated Magomedov on the feet throughout the fight, using a simple jab and straight left hand to nullify Magomedov's striking. That forced Magomedov to search for takedowns, though nearly every takedown attempt was met with Mix attacking Magomedov's neck.
The submission threats eventually became too much and Mix locked in a guillotine choke in the second round. Magomedov was unable to free his leg as Mix tightened his squeeze on the neck until Magomedov went out cold.
Mix's chance at Stots' interim title will be his second chance at Bellator gold. He came up short against Juan Archuleta at Bellator 248 in September 2020. He advanced to the semifinals by beating former champion Kyoji Horiguchi in April.
"It brings me down to earth," Mix said after his victory. "I feel normal right now. This is the position I should be. I blew my first world title opportunity. ... You best assure I'm coming for that f---ing title."
The other main fight on the night saw women's flyweight champion Liz Carmouche retain her title with a second-round submission of Juliana Velasquez. The bout was a rematch from earlier this year when Carmouche scored a controversial finish of Velasquez after being dominated for much of the fight. Carmouche left no doubt in the second meeting as she controlled the action early with grappling against the fence before locking in the armbar submission in the second round and forcing the tap.
CBS Sports was with you the entire way on Friday bringing you all the results and highlights from the Bellator 289 below.
Bellator 289 card and results
- Raufeon Stots (ic) def. Danny Sabatello via split decision (45-50, 48-47, 48-47)
- Liz Carmouche (c) def. Juliana Velasquez via second-round submission (armbar)
- Patchy Mix def. Magomed Magomedov via second-round submission (guillotine choke)
- Dalton Rosta def. Anthony Adams via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)
