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Bellator 289's schedule looked to be very enticing for MMA fans. Bellator 289, which was broadcast live and took place at Mohegan Sun Arena in Uncasville, Conn, featured two tournament semi-final matches as well as a title match.
Raufeon Stots def. Danny Sabatello via split decision:
After weeks of cheeky banter, the interim Bellator bantamweight champion survived Danny Sabatello's unrelenting wrestling assault to prevail by split decision and move on to the $1 million bantamweight grand prix finale.
In the main event of Bellator 289 on Friday, Stots narrowly survived thanks to scores from judges Bryan Miner and Eric Colon of 48–47 for Stots and Doug Crosby of an unusual 50–45 for Sabatello.
“F*** you Sabatello!” an elated Stots said after the heated build-up between the two rivals. “He didn’t do no damage. I was walking him down the whole time, I had his face bloody, I got blood all in that highlighter head, and we’re moving on to the finals, baby.”
It was immediately apparent that Sabatello's strategy involved wrestling. Despite spending more than 10 minutes in ground control, the aggressive 29-year-old Sabatello struggled to create much, if there was any, meaningful offensive despite continuously trying to get to Stots' back and scoring takedowns in all but the third round. Stots, in contrast, blocked Sabatello's efforts to take the opponent down and controlled the striking exchanges throughout the 25-minute contest, totaling 90 strikes to Sabatello's 43.
Following the announcement of the scorecards, Sabatello walked out of the ring in a rage, but in-ring interviewer and veteran MMA official John McCarthy expressed his support for Stots' damage over Sabatello's loss of control.
Patchy Mix def. Magomed Magomedov via submission:
Patchy Mix (17-1), a 29-year-old bantamweight became the first person to defeat Magomed Magomedov (19-3) by sending the Russian to bed with a vicious guillotine choke at the 2:39 mark of Round 2. With a dramatic win over the Russian, Mix will face Stots in the competition's finals.
Despite being the underdog, Mix maintained his position early and came close to guillotining Magomedov in the middle of the first round. After shocking Kyoji Horiguchi and Magomedov, Mix is now just one encounter short from romping to the $1 million prize for the tournament.
“You best be sure I’m coming for that f****** title,” Mix roared after his win.
Liz Carmouche def. Juliana Velasquez via submission:
The Bellator flyweight champion Liz Carmouche (18-7) and Juliana Velasquez (12-2) squared up again in another title fight on the card after Carmouche's contentious comeback victory over Velasquez to capture the gold in April.
At 4:24 in Round 2, Carmouche put an end to the contest with a mounted armbar after dominating the fight with takedowns and wrestling. After months of brewing animosity between the two flyweights, Carmouche's attitude was vindicated with her first armbar stoppage since her second professional victory in 2010.
“She tapped and it popped, so there’s no doubts anywhere [this time],” a grinning Carmouche said.
Dalton Rosta def. Anthony Adams via unanimous decision:
In the main event's inaugural fight, rising middleweight Dalton Rosta (8-0) defeated Anthony Adams (9-3) by unanimous decision despite seemingly dropping him out in the final minute of the contest. Rosta earned a unanimous 30-27 decision victory from the three judges, giving him his ninth victory for Bellator.