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”

By Cole Shelton - April 29, 2022

Danny Sabatello wants people to realize he’s no longer the dark horse of Bellator’s bantamweight grand prix.

Danny Sabatello

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.

“I’m very happy with it, I didn’t get the finish, which I always want. But, other than not getting the finish I’m very f*****g happy with it as I absolutely smashed that guy’s face in,” Sabatello said to BJPENN.com. “My goal in these fights isn’t to just win, it’s to dominate them. In terms of the fan’s view, I don’t want anybody to say I got lucky or it was a close fight. After this fight, the entire world saw how much better than I am.”

With Sabatello now earning his way into the grand prix, he will face Leandro Higo on June 24 at Bellator 282. ‘The Italian Gangster’ is excited for the matchup as he says he truly doesn’t like the Brazilian and is excited to beat him up and make him quit.

“I’m very f*****g pumped to fight him, stylistically it’s a very good fight but I also just don’t like the guy. I think he’s a bum and a piece of s**t. I don’t like anyone that doesn’t make weight and he hasn’t made weight in his past two fights,” Sabatello explained. “That just always pisses me off, make the f*****g weight. He’s an unprofessional guy and a lazy undisciplined little b***h. I can’t wait to go in there and beat the s**t out of him. I plan on slicing up his face, making him bleed, and really just making him quit and break mentally.”

Danny Sabatello

Image Credit: Bellator

With Danny Sabatello believing he has an easy matchup against Higo, he is confident he is no longer the dark horse of the grand prix, but rather the favorite to win it all.

“It’s funny because going into this fight, people thought I might beat Lugo but I won’t go far in the grand prix,” Sabatello said. “After the win, I’ve had tons of people tell me and message me that I’m not the dark horse and I could be the favorite to win it. When I’m on my game nobody can even touch me.”

Should Sabatello get past Higo in June, he will face Raufeon Stots for the interim belt which he says is another easy matchup for him.

“I don’t see the hype behind Stots, I don’t get it. I went on Twitter the other day and I saw so many people say how good he is and I just don’t see it,” Sabatello said. “His KO over Juan (Archuleta) was not intentional, he threw a head kick and tried to hit him with his foot but Juan was too close and his knee landed on his head. I think that fight is stylistically very good for me as I’m better than him everywhere and he’s very slow. I’m very excited to fight him and I can’t wait to beat him up.”

Sabatello also thinks once he wins the entire grand prix, Sergio Pettis will just vacate the belt as he won’t want to deal with getting beat up so badly to lose his title.

“There is no way Sergio Pettis looks at me and thinks he can beat me. It might be smart for him to retire or just vacate the belt,” Sabatello concluded. “I don’t know how he has the belt, I think he sucks and I would just maul him.”

Do you think Danny Sabatello is the dark horse to win the grand prix?


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