New York, NY — Featherweight Pat Sabatini was looking a little worse for the wear following his fight with Chepe Mariscal at UFC 322 on Saturday.
Okay, a lot worse for the wear.
Sporting a black eye and keeping his hoodie up, Sabatini (21-5) admitted while speaking with media outlets including Cageside Press that he’d known coming into the bout that he was in for a dogfight. After all, he was no stranger to Mariscal.
Of course, a victory helps take the edge off.
“Feeling a lot better right now, feeling good after the W. I knew it was going to be a dogfight with that guy, I shared the ring with him for six rounds,” stated Sabatini. “We fought in the past. Kind of just knew it was going to be a dogfight.”
Sabatini admitted that he had vision issues, with blood draining into his right eye. “Just tried to remain calm and get the win any way possible.”
While UFC 322 was a better night for officiating than recent weeks, pundits were quick to point out the lack of attention to fence grabs on the part of Mariscal by ref “Big” Dan Miragliotta. Sabatini, however, came to the official’s defense.
“Big Dan’s the man. I don’t think he did a bad job, I think he did a great job. I did get thumbed in the eye a couple times, but it was probably accidental. I don’t think it was Chepe’s fault, just happens in there.”
After the second round wrapped, both Pat Sabatini and Chepe were seen speaking to the ref, though cameras didn’t pick up what was being said. “I think it was something about the fence grab, or the eye poke. It was one of those two,” explained Sabatini. “There was definitely a lot of dialog in this fight for sure.”
With three straight wins under his belt, Sabatini is now focused on landing in the 145lb division’s top 15. “I want a number next to my name, I want to just keep climbing this mountain.”
Watch the full UFC 322 post-fight press conference with Pat Sabatini above.
