Bellator 278: Danny Sabatello Fired Up After Win, Tells Higo To Make Weight

Honolulu, HI – Confident would not be a strong enough word to describe Bellator bantamweight Danny Sabatello following his decision win over Jornel Lugo at Bellator 278 on Friday night.

“Very f*cking fired up, but you know what this is a sport where even if you’re so much better than the guy anything can happen. I can slip on a banana peel, you know miracles happen. He could have caught me with a head kick or something, but I put that bed to rest,” Sabatello told reporters at his post-fight media scrum.

Up next for Sabatello is Leandro Higo in the Bellator bantamweight grand prix.

“There’s no way there’s a guy out there that can beat me right now. If I can do that to a guy that’s a stud like Jornel Lugo undefeated really f*cking talented and skillful fighter, then I could beat anybody. And now Leandro Higo is f*cking next. If you think that I dominated Lugo wait till you see what I do to Higo,” Sabatello said.

Sabatello dominated the fight with his powerful wrestling and ground game. Jornel couldn’t find a way to get up off the canvas and mount an offense.

“Just relentless. Relentlessly heavy, heavy f*cking hips. Elbows up top, then punches to the body, pressure with my shoulder, pressure with my hips. It’s just something that you can’t really feel out in practice. You can’t have guys come in and simulate that type of pressure. You need to get out there in the octagon and feel it. That’s a situation where you can’t really mimic it. Nobody out there has my type of pressure,” Sabatello said.

“I guess you could put a 7-thousand ton boulder on you and say that’s Sabatello, but I don’t even think that would do justice.”

After being out for so long Sabatello came into Bellator 278 looking to make a statement.

“You know I had an 11-month layoff. It sucked. All I give a sh*t about is fighting. All I do is I sacrificed and I sacrificed. I haven’t seen my parents, my family and friends in so long. Can’t wait to get back and have my parents cooking. I’m getting hungry just thinking about it. Might put some garlic and olive oil on this microphone and start eating it.”

Go to any live MMA event and many fans will boo a fight the second it goes to the ground, but Sabatello finds a way to make it interesting to watch.

“You know this isn’t pure wrestling it’s so much different than MMA wrestling. The grappling and putting everything into perspective. I might not be the best wrestler, I might not be the best jiu jitsu guy, I’m the best f*cking MMA fighter,” Sabatello said.

With a matchup with Higo up next, Sabatello sent a message to his future opponent.

“Leandro you’re a f*cking great matchup for me because you suck, and I’m good. This is going to be a poetic performance for me in nine months, Connecticut, June 24th,” Sabatello said.

Higo responded to Sabatello on social media telling him he was watching and that when they fight he’ll be grabbing Danny’s neck.

“Yeah he’s a f*cking idiot if he thinks he can grab my neck. Who says we’re even going to the ground I might keep this a stand up fight. I might take it to the ground once he’s dog tired,” Sabatello responded.

“First off Higo, make f*cking weight. You don’t ever make weight because you’re an undisciplined little b*tch. F*cking make weight and then we’ll see what happens.”

Watch the full Bellator 279 post-fight press conference with Danny Sabatello above. More coverage from the event can be found below.