The talk is over.
Tomorrow @RaufeonStots
& @ShockThisWorld
will finally fight.
#Bellator289 pic.twitter.com/EhmYJSePcJ— Scott Coker (@ScottCoker)
December 8, 2022
Bellator
MMA ends its year with a card containing a pair of title
fights, and every fighter on the bill has made weight.
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Interim bantamweight champion Raufeon
Stots (134.4) made weight for his title defense against
Danny
Sabatello (135), and so did women’s flyweight champion Liz
Carmouche (124.8) for her rematch with Juliana
Velasquez (124.2). It was a drama-free day on the scale, as all
fighters for
Bellator 289 successfully made weight.
Stots (18-1) is coming off an impressive knockout over Juan
Archuleta that saw him claim the interim title. He’ll go up
against “The Italian Gangster” in the Bellator bantamweight grand
prix semifinals, as the trash-talking Sabatello (13-1) is on an
impressive seven-fight win streak. The winner will square off
against the victor of Magomed
Magomedov (134.4) vs. Patrick Mix
for the million-dollar prize sometime in 2023, and both of those
135ers hit their proper marks for their semifinal pairing as
well.
Meanwhile, this is the first defense for Carmouche (17-7) since
defeating Velasquez via Round 4 TKO back in April. The two-time
Ultimate Fighting Championship title challenger
claimed the throne from Velasquez (12-1) after rattling off three
straight wins in the promotion, including two stoppages. The
formerly undefeated Velasquez will look to regain her belt and
avenge her lone career defeat, as she had amassed a Bellator record
of 7-0 before taking the loss to “Girl-Rilla.”
Bellator 289 will air live on Showtime on Friday at 9 p.m. ET/6
p.m. PT. Prelims commence at 5:25 p.m. ET/2:25 p.m. PT.
Bellator 289 Weigh-in Results:
Raufeon
Stots (134.4) vs. Danny
Sabatello (135)
Liz
Carmouche (124.8) vs. Juliana
Velasquez (124.2)
Magomed
Magomedov (134.4) vs. Patrick Mix
(135)
Anthony
Adams (185.4) vs. Dalton
Rosta (185.6)
Ilara
Joanne (124.8) vs. Denise
Kielholtz (124.2)
Cody
Law (145.4) vs. Cris
Lencioni (146)
Kyle
Crutchmer (170.8) vs. Jaleel
Willis (170)
Kevin
Boehm (145.1) vs. Kai Kamaka
III (145.2)
Mark
Lemminger (170.8) vs. Michael
Lombardo (169.8)
Pat
Downey (185.8) vs. Christian
Echols (185.4)
Cass
Bell (136) vs. Jared
Scoggins (135.2)