“[Leandro] Higo isn’t a guy that I’m unfamiliar with. Growing up, I was always watching him. And somebody the other day told me that he’s a jiu-jitsu guy, and I almost puked. I don’t see it. I don’t see how he has any threat to me.” That was Bellator 282 bantamweight Danny Sabatello, outspoken as always ahead of what he calls a “dream match-up” as part of the Bantamweight Grand Prix next month.
Not exactly known for being the most laid back of fighters, Sabatello takes umbrage with more than just the Brazilian’s skill set. Rather, it’s Higo’s history of missing weight that gets Danny Sabatello fired up. “I don’t think this guy is very respectful to the game. I know he misses weight all the f*cking time. He missed weight his last two fights like a b*tch, and I really want to punch him for it.”
Sabatello joined social media platform Twitter late last month, and his very first Tweet was aimed at his opponent.
Thought long and hard about my first tweet. Here it is. higo sucks.
— Danny Sabatello (@ShockThisWorld) April 25, 2022
Cageside Press asked Sabatello to elaborate on why he feels Higo “sucks” during Tuesday’s Bellator 282 virtual press conference. Asked whether he felt Higo had specific deficiencies in his game, Sabatello said it was “everything” about his upcoming opponent that sucks.
“Everything. I just think he sucks as a person and I think he sucks in the cage. I don’t think he’s very good. He gets lucky with some of his wins; I’ve seen him against Ricky Bandejas, Shawn Bunch, Darrion Caldwell. He got lucky against Shawn Bunch with his little bullsh*t guillotine. And I just don’t think he’s very good,” explained Sabatello. “I know he’s been chirping at me a little bit, and I’m going to make him pay for that. But yeah I’ve been thinking this guy sucks for a while, I’ve been wanting to fight him pretty much for a few years now. It’s once again a dream come true match-up just because I’ve always wanted to fight him.”
Sabatello again took issue with Higo’s history of missing weight, which has happened in back-to-back fights. “When people disrespect the sport and miss weight, or take steroids and get caught, it’s very disrespectful to me and I take that very seriously. So whenever that happens, I want to fight the guy and punish him, and I get to do that.”
“With the weight misses of course I think he sucks because of that, but I’m just talking about his skill level. And not only does he suck, he’s a huge p*ssy also. I don’t think he’s very tough mentally. Obviously if you’re missing weight, there’s a screw loose in your brain. That should never happen,” Sabatello continued. “I’ve made weight my whole life, I’ve been wrestling since I was five years old; never in my life have I ever missed weight. He’s obviously not a man, he misses weight too often and I want to punish him for it. And then again the skill set, on the feet he’s not very good, he has no hands and then on the ground, I don’t think he’s very good either. He threatens with some bullsh*t jiu-jitsu stuff, but I don’t think it’s going to be very much of a threat for me.”
Sabatello went on to add that “I just want to split his face open, I want to punish him, I want to make him remember our fight always. And this one specifically is just a little bit different, because I don’t think I’ve ever fought a guy that I felt was really disrespectful to the fight game. So I think this one’s going to be pretty exciting, I want to get him dog tired and I want to punish him. This isn’t a fight again where I want to just go out there and finish him. I want to torture him first, and then finish him. I see it a fourth round TKO, but before then, I want to punish him and his little stupid-ass face. You know we’re lucky this is virtual right now, because if this was in person, I’d slap the f*ck out of his face. So it’s probably good that this isn’t f*cking in person.”
Sabatello is, clearly, not one to shy away from letting you know how he feels. But he’ll get his chance to get his hands on Leandro Higo soon enough: their bantamweight grand prix quarterfinal arrives at Bellator 282 on June 24, 2022 at the Mohegan Sun Arena in Uncasville, CT.
