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Danny Sabatello plans to “expose” and “dominate” Raufeon Stots at Bellator 289 to win interim belt: “I’m more than pumped to go f**k this guy up”
Danny Sabatello is happy he can finally share the cage with Raufeon Stots. Sabatello and Stots are set to headline Bellator 289 in a semi-final matchup of the grand prix. The fight is also for the interim bantamweight title – as Stots looks to defend it for the first time. It’s also a fight Sabatello […]
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Ilima-Lei Macfarlane eyes retirement fight against friend and mentor Liz Carmouche for the belt: “I have four fights left on this contract and that will be it for me”
Ilima-Lei Macfarlane will be looking to return to the win column in a big way at Bellator 284. Macfarlane ended her nearly year-and-a-half layoff back in April in Hawaii and suffered a decision loss to Justine Kish. After the loss, Macfarlane told Bellator she wanted to return as soon as possible and got her wish […]
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Chris Gonzalez plans to bring the fight to Usman Nurmagomedov and make him “uncomfortable” at Bellator 283 to earn a title shot
Chris Gonzalez always wanted to fight Usman Nurmagomedov ever since both men signed with Bellator. At Bellator 283, Gonzalez is set to face Nurmagomedov in a crucial lightweight scrap and one that Gonzalez has wanted. “I was actually thrilled, I have been asking for this fight and when they called me to say he was […]
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Danny Sabatello “happy” with dominant win over Leandro Higo, confident he finishes “scared” Raufeon Stots: “He knows that I’m coming for him”
Danny Sabatello wanted to hurt Leandro Higo and he believes he did just that. Sabatello and Higo met in the quarter-finals of the Bellator bantamweight grand prix at Bellator 282. In the lead-up to the fight, Sabatello was vocal in his desire to beat up and hurt Higo and he did just that as he […]
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Danny Sabatello says he hates Leandro Higo, plans to “torture” him at Bellator 282: “I want him to have scars on his face for the rest of his life”
Danny Sabatello is excited to fight and punish Leandro Higo at Bellator 282 on Friday. Sabatello and Higo are set to meet in the quarter-finals of the bantamweight grand prix in an intriguing matchup. When the bracket was set up, Sabatello was pleased he would get the chance to face Higo as he says he […]
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Danny Sabatello pleased with dominant win over Jornel Lugo, eager to beat up Leandro Higo: “I think he’s a bum and a piece of s**t”
Danny Sabatello wants people to realize he’s no longer the dark horse of Bellator’s bantamweight grand prix. Sabatello earned his way into the grand prix with a dominant decision win over Jornel Lugo at Bellator 278. He used his wrestling to control Lugo and won every single round which he says he expected to do. […]
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Yancy Medeiros happy to re-sign with Bellator now that he’s “having fun” fighting again: “I’m happy I could please the crowd”
Yancy Medeiros says his Bellator debut served as the first time he had fun fighting in quite some time. After losing four in a row in the UFC, he was not re-signed but quickly inked a one-fight deal with Bellator. He was set to fight back home in Hawaii against Emmanuel Sanchez and heading into […]
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Danny Sabatello was surprised he was originally left out of grand prix but expects to “break” Jornel Lugo: “I think he just sucks”
Danny Sabatello was shocked when he was left out of the Bellator bantamweight grand prix. Sabatello is 1-0 in Bellator with a dominant decision win over Brett Johns, but he still thinks he hasn’t gotten the respect he deserves. Due to recent injuries, Sabatello has to face Jornel Lugo on Friday at Bellator 278 to […]
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On a one-fight deal Yancy Medeiros plans to prove he belongs in Bellator against Emmanuel Sanchez in Hawaii: “I’m looking to put on my best performance”
Yancy Medeiros got his wish of fighting back home in Hawaii. After Medeiros was released from the UFC following his fourth straight loss, he made it known he wanted to fight for Bellator on one of the two Hawaii cards. After making it public, Scott Coker and Bellator gave him the opportunity to fight on […]
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Darrion Caldwell expects to “break” Enrique Barzola and finish him in the first, confident he will get his belt back soon
Darrion Caldwell is eager to finally fight again. Caldwell last fought in May of 2021, suffering a split decision loss to Leandro Higo. It was his second defeat in a row and after the loss he said he wanted a quick turnaround, but that never happened. Instead, he will welcome Enrique Barzola to Bellator at Bellator […]
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Benson Henderson plans to test Islam Mamedov’s durability at Bellator 273, says he’s been promised a title shot with a win
Benson Henderson knows people are counting him out but he’s eager for the challenge of facing Islam Mamedov at Bellator 273. Henderson is set to fight Mamedov in the co-main event, and even though the former UFC champion is on a three-fight losing skid, he’s fighting the presumed number one contender. Although many were surprised […]
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Kyoji Horiguchi doesn’t see Sergio Pettis as ‘real champion’ ahead of Bellator 272 title clash
Kyoji Horiguchi is a man on a mission. The current RIZIN FF 135-pound bantamweight king recaptured the title he never officially lost on New Year’s Eve 2020 and hasn’t fought since. Now, Horiguchi has signed with Bellator in a rare deal that sees him remain the RIZIN champ and seeks the other title he relinquished […]
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Brent Primus ‘happy’ with win over Benson Henderson, confident he’ll win the ‘belt back’ in his next fight
Brent Primus knows his next fight will be for the Bellator’s lightweight title. Primus picked up a massive win last Saturday at Bellator 267 as he beat Benson Henderson by decision. In the fight, Primus was close to finishing it a couple of times, and despite not finishing the fight, he’s pleased with his performance. […]
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Tim Johnson expecting a ‘war’ with Fedor Emelianenko but knows he has to finish the fight: ‘I’m probably not winning a decision in Russia’
Tim Johnson says it is still surreal to think he is fighting Fedor Emelianenko in Russia, in what could be the Russian’s final fight. When Bellator announced Emelianenko would be fighting back home in Russia, many thought he would be fighting a fellow legend. Yet, that wasn’t the case as instead, he will be fighting […]
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Brent Primus expects to KO Benson Henderson and earn a title shot: ‘I’m going to throw f*****g bombs’
Brent Primus has been asking for a big-name opponent for quite some time and he gets his wish on Saturday night at Bellator 268. Primus returned in July and lost a controversial split decision to Islam Mamedov in a fight many thought he won. After the fight, he asked his management and Bellator for a […]
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Cheick Kongo hopes win over Sergei Kharitonov earns him a rematch against Ryan Bader: “I’ll fight him in the street, I don’t care”
Cheick Kongo still believes he should’ve gotten an immediate rematch against Ryan Bader. At Bellator 226 in September of 2019, Kongo fought Bader for the heavyweight title and the fight ended in a No Contest due to an eye poke. Since then, Kongo has only competed once losing a split decision to Tim Johnson last […]
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Danny Sabatello blasts ranked Bellator bantaweights for ducking him, expects to finish Johnny Campbell
Danny Sabatello doesn’t understand why he isn’t ranked in Bellator’s bantamweight division. Sabatello made good in his Bellator debut as he dominated Brett Johns for all three rounds to win a clear-cut decision. Johns was a high-profile signing for Bellator and after Sabatello dominated the scrap, he expected he would be ranked but that was […]
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Georgi Karakhanyan hopes AJ McKee becomes Bellator’s lightweight champ so he can earn the rematch for the belt
Georgi Karakhanyan knew he shouldn’t have cut to featherweight anymore, and his eight-second KO loss to AJ McKee cemented that. Karakhanyan thought of moving up earlier but Bellator started the grand prix which made the 36-year-old stay at 145lbs. Unfortnately, in the opening round, he faced McKee and was knocked out in eight seconds. After […]
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Brent Primus wants rematch with Islam Mamedov after controversial loss: “He knows I’m the better fighter”
Brent Primus was shocked he didn’t get his hand raised against Islam Mamedov at Bellator 263. Although Primus spent the majority of the fight on his back, he was the one doing all the damage. He was landing heavy shots from the bottom while Khabib Nurmagomedov’s protégé was just holding him down and not landing […]
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Josh Barnett says ‘It would really suck’ to never fight Fedor Emelianenko
Josh Barnett vs. Fedor Emelianenko is one of MMA’s biggest fights that got away — but what if it didn’t have to? The pair of heavyweight legends were originally set to clash in 2009 under the short-lived Affliction banner. Fast-forward 12 years and they’re both in the same promotion once again as Emelianenko has his […]
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Tim Johnson passed up waiting for Ryan Bader for interim title fight, expects a decision win over Valentin Moldavsky
Tim Johnson could’ve waited for a title shot against Ryan Bader. After Johnson earned a split decision win over Cheick Kongo last October he cemented himself as the number one contender at heavyweight. The plan was for the UFC veteran to face Ryan Bader in the first quarter of 2021 for the heavyweight title. Yet, […]
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After “hanging with” Khabib and Islam in training, Kyle Crutchmer has the confidence to make a Bellator title run
Kyle Crutchmer has all the confidence in the world to be a Bellator champion. Crutchmer is coming off his first career loss as he lost a hard-fought decision to Kemran Lachniov at Bellator 249 in October, who is on the newest season of TUF. Although it was Crutchmer’s first career loss, he says he took […]
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Danny Sabatello expects bantamweights to duck him after his “dominant” win over Brett Johns
Danny Sabatello knew he would be able to beat Brett Johns and would do it with ease. At Bellator 259, Sabatello – a former Contender Series winner – stepped up on just five days’ notice to face Johns. Entering the fight, Sabatello told BJPENN.com he expected to dominate the fight and he believes he did […]
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Darrion Caldwell expects to finish Leandro Higo again, plans to reclaim bantamweight title later this year
Darrion Caldwell is focused on reclaiming his bantamweight title. After Caldwell lost back-to-back fights to Kyoji Horiguchi for the RIZIN title and to lose his Bellator belt, he moved up to featherweight to take part in the grand prix. He beat Henry Corrales by decision and then submitted Adam Borics, but lost in the semis […]
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After being “disrespected” by Dana White, Danny Sabatello expects to “maul” Brett Johns and “make him quit”
Danny Sabatello thought he was for sure going to get a UFC contract after his dominant performance over Taylor Moore on the Contender Series in November. Sabatello landed three of four takedowns and had 14:06 of ground control and won the fight 30-24, 30-25, 30-26. It was a dominant performance and for the now 28-year-old […]
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Austin Vanderford expects to drag Fabian Edwards into the “deep waters,” believes a win puts him into title contention
Austin Vanderford is eager to share the cage with Fabian Edwards at Bellator 259 on Friday night. Vanderford is 10-0 and coming off a decision win over Vinicius de Jesus in his third fight in Bellator. Vanderford is currently the third-ranked middleweight while Edwards is ranked fourth. Although they are both up and comers in […]
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Patrick Mix expects to finish Albert Morales, blasts James Gallagher: “I put together an amazing camp to whoop his ass and he didn’t show up”
Patrick Mix had a feeling James Gallagher wouldn’t end up fighting him. At Bellator 258, Mix and Gallagher were booked to fight one another. Yet, just over a week before the fight, it was revealed the Irishman was out of the fight. For Mix, he wasn’t surprised when he got the news. [brid autoplay=”true” video=”776024″ […]
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AJ McKee confident he will KO Patricio Pitbull to claim featherweight title: “I will be too much for him”
AJ McKee has known it would be him and Patricio Pitbull in the finals of the featherweight grand prix. McKee made quick work of Georgi Karakhanyan and then submitted Derek Camps and Darrion Caldwell to reach the finals. Pitbull, meanwhile, beat Juan Archuleta and then KO’d Pedro Carvalho and submitted Emmanuel Sanchez to reach the […]