The semifinals of the Bellator bantamweight grand prix have a date
and venue.
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Promotion officials announced Monday that
Bellator 289 will be topped a pair of 135-pound pairings from
the bracket, as interim champ Raufeon
Stots meets Danny
Sabatello, while Patricky Mix takes on Magomed
Magomedov. Bellator 289 takes place on Dec. 9 at Mohegan Sun
Arena in Uncasville, Conn., and airs on Showtime at 9 p.m. ET/6
p.m. PT.
A two-time NCAA Division II wrestler from the University of
Nebraska at Kearney, Stots is 6-0 in Bellator competition. He
claimed interim 135-pound gold with a third-round KO of Juan
Archuleta in the opening round of the grand prix at Bellator
279.
Sabatello, who wrestled at Purdue University, is 3-0 under the
Bellator banner and 13-1 as a professional overall. The former
Titan FC title holder punched his ticket to the bantamweight
semifinals with a five-round verdict over Leandro
Higo at Bellator 282 on June 24.
Mix has lost just once in 17 professional outings — a five-round
decision defeat in a bantamweight title bout against Archuleta in
September 2020. “Patchy” has since rebounded with three straight
victories, including a unanimous verdict against Kyoji
Horiguchi in the tourney quarterfinals at Bellator 279.
Magomedov notably defeated ex-UFC champ Petr Yan under
the Absolute Championship Berkut banner and is 19-2 as a
professional overall. The Russian known as “Tiger” advanced to the
grand prix semifinals with a fourth-round submission of Enrique
Barzola at Bellator 282.