Danny Sabatello Wants to Score Violent Finish Against Jornel Lugo

Former Titan Fighting Championship bantamweight titleholder Danny Sabatello joined Bellator MMA to accomplish great things. In his promotional debut at Bellator 259, Sabatello (11-1, 1-0 Bellator) took a unanimous decision over Brett Johns. Now, he hopes to quickly climb the 135-pound rankings and win the divisional championship. “The Italian Gangster” has the chance to prove his worth in the Bellator bantamweight grand prix, where he is set to face Jornel Lugo in the opening round of the tournament. Lugo is still undefeated, but that’s something that Sabatello aims to take away from his opponent soon.

“He’s undefeated, so I guess that does say something, that he is, I guess, above average, but I’ve watched a few of his fights and I just think that he absolutely sucks,” Sabatello said to Sherdog. “I don’t think he’s really good anywhere, I think he’s… he’s a good fighter, he’s good everywhere but he’s not great anywhere. I don’t see him too much of a threat for me. I think the level of competition he’s had wasn’t too stiff. He hasn’t really been tested. Pros for him for being undefeated, that’s probably a good feeling in his mind, but it just makes it even sweeter for me, because nothing’s better than beating the guy that’s undefeated. I want to be the one to give him the loss on his record and I want to give it violently too. I don’t just to beat him, I want to do this with pure violence. I want to beat the s**t out of him, I want to cut him open, I want to see him bleed, I want to see blood on the canvas, and I want to see him quit. The goal in this fight isn’t just to beat him, the goal is to beat the s**t out of him and break him mentally. I want him to never forget the day he fought Danny Sabatello.”

The winner of the Sabatello-Lugo clash will face Leandro Higo in the quarterfinals. Sabatello talked extensively about his plans to conquer the 135-pound division and smash his opponents, his Italian heritage, and more.

Timestamps:

(00:00) Intro
(00:50) Celebrating his 29th birthday
(02:00) Talking about his Italian heritage
(03:18) Visiting Italy from time to time
(04:35) His camp for Lugo
(05:57) His sparring partners
(06:37) Commenting on the level of Lugo’s opponents
(07:55) Hoping to get ranked after defeating Lugo
(08:44) What happened to the Johnny Campbell matchup in August
(09:46) Why did he wait for so long before getting a new fight
(11:16) His pick for his opponent if he gets in the grand prix final
(13:19) His walkout song
(14:35) His message for Bellator bantamweight fighters

Tudor Leonte started writing about mixed martial arts in 2013 for Italian media outlets. His journey with Sherdog began in 2018 and he now covers One Championship and countless European shows. You can follow him on Twitter @MrTudorLeonte.