Raufeon Stots

Supa

USA

Weight Class Bantamweight

Promotion Bellator

Record 20-2-0

Height 5'7"

Reach 73"

DOB 12/16/1988

Advances to BW Grand Prix Final

BantamweightBellator

December 14, 2022

Stots defeated Danny Sabatello via split decision (49-48, 49-48, 45-50) at Bellator 289 on Dec. 9 at Mohegan Sun Arena in Connecticut.

ANALYSIS
Stots became the interim champion with a TKO victory over Juan Archuleta back in April, and he'll continue to carry that tag until a showdown with Patchy Mix in the Bellator Bantamweight Grand Prix Final. The winner is then set for a date with Sergio Pettis to determine the new, true champion. In this particular matchup, Stots lived up to his billing as the (-220) betting favorite, though it didn't appear that way out of the gates. Both men are highly-credentialed wrestlers, but Sabatello appeared to get the best of the grappling exchanges in Rounds 1 and 2. That tired out the challenger, however, and Stots started to defend the takedowns in Round 3 before beginning to get his striking game going. In the championship rounds, Stots took a clear Round 4 on the basis of his striking and takedown defense, and opened Round 5 with another big shot. Sabatello bounced back, however, and finished the fight from the top position. This fight could have conceivably been scored 48-47 for either man, but the 50-45 mark for Sabatello from dissenting judge Doug Crosby is one of the worst scorecards you'll ever see and likely to be the subject of investigation. Per MMADecisions.com, it was the first time in the site's history that the fighter who came out on the losing end was ever awarded a 50-45 scorecard.

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New interim Bellator champ

BantamweightBellator

May 1, 2022

Stots defeated Juan Archuleta via TKO (head kick and follow-up shots) at 0:16 of Round 3 at Bellator 279 on April 23 in Hawaii. With the victory, Stots becomes the new Bellator Interim Bantamweight Champion.

ANALYSIS
With current 135-pound champion Sergio Pettis having been forced to withdraw from the Bellator Bantamweight Grand Prix, the promotion elected this matchup to serve as the interim title fight. Grappling headlined most of Round 1, and while the striking opened up in Round 2, it was Round 3 that saw fireworks right out of the gates. Stots connected with a head kick that floored Archuleta, and he managed to land a few follow-up shots before referee Mike Beltran rushed in to stop the proceedings. Stots now advances to the semifinals of the tournament, where he'll face the winner of a June 24 matchup between Leandro Higo and Danny Sabatello. Also on the evening, Patchy Mix defeated Kyoji Horiguchi to earn a semifinals appearance of his own.