5 Things You Might Not Know About Danny Sabatello

Not many mixed martial artists talk the talk any better than Danny Sabatello. He walks a pretty good walk, too.

The hubris-infused Chicago native will lock horns with Raufeon Stots for the interim Bellator MMA bantamweight championship when their grand prix semifinal headlines Bellator 289 on Friday at the Mohegan Sun Arena in Uncasville, Connecticut. Sabatello enters the cage with the wind of a seven-fight winning streak in his sails. He last fought at Bellator 282, where he was awarded a five-round unanimous decision over Leandro Higo in the tournament quarterfinals on June 24.

As Sabatello makes final preparations for his consequential clash with Stots, here are five things you might not know about him:

1. The singlet was his accelerant.

Sabatello was a two-time state wrestling champion at Stevenson High School in Lincolnshire, Illinois, where he completed his prep career with a 152-19 record. He went on to wrestle collegiately at Purdue University and became a three-time NCAA qualifier for the Boilermakers.

2. He chose an ideal landing spot.

“The Italian Gangster” operates out of American Top Team in Coconut Creek, Florida. There, Sabatello has access to world-class coaches like Mike Thomas Brown, Steve Mocco, Marcus “Conan” Silveira and Muhammad Lawal, among others. He shares space at the revered gym with a vast stable of lighter-weight thoroughbreds, from Jussier Formiga, Alexandre Pantoja and current One Championship flyweight titleholder Adriano Moraes to Pedro Munhoz, Marlon Moraes and reigning Rizin Fighting Federation bantamweight champion Kyoji Horiguchi.

3. He knows the weight of gold.

Sabatello held the Titan Fighting Championship bantamweight title for more than 300 days. He laid claim to the 135-pound championship with a first-round rear-naked choke submission of Raymond Ramos in the Titan 61 main event on June 26, 2020, retained it with a five-round unanimous decision over Da’Mon Blackshear in the Titan 67 headliner on Feb. 12, 2021 and then vacated the throne to sign with Bellator some three months later.

4. The UFC passed on his services.

The Chicago native competed on Dana White’s Contender Series in 2020, but a unanimous decision over Taylor Moore was not enough to earn Sabatello a contract with the Ultimate Fighting Championship. Natan Levy, Nikolas Motta and Luana Pinheiro were signed from the Week 9 crop. That trio has since combined for a 5-2 record inside the Octagon.

5. His travels have kept him close to home.

Sabatello has never fought outside of the continental United States. In fact, his appearances have been limited to four states: Florida, Nevada, Connecticut and Hawaii.