Danny Sabatello gets goosebumps about champ status

Danny Sabatello is starting to experience what it might be like to have a chunk of the Bellator bantamweight strap around his waist as match day draws nearer. Sabatello competes versus interim champion Raufeon Stots in the main event of Bellator 289's bantamweight Grand Prix. The fight occurs at Mohegan Sun Arena on Friday.

Both fighters have used harsh words in the lead-up to the battle. It has been difficult to come across any supportive remarks about their rival from either guy, although Sabatello vehemently defended his strategy.

“We’re very different and I just don’t like him in general,” Sabatello told reporters at media day on Wednesday. “Also, obviously, if I’m going inside a cage with somebody, and we’re gonna go toe-to-toe and he’s gonna almost, potentially, maybe kill me, and I’m almost potentially, maybe gonna kill him, why the f*ck would I be this guy’s friend?”

In any of the contentious arguments over the past few months in multiple interviews, Stots has not yielded. However, Sabatello immediately responded, "Negative 2," when queried how he would evaluate Stots' trash talk.

Irrespective of how Sabatello feels about his opposition's propensity for banter, the 29-year-old ATT prospect could be in line to win the Bellator championship in just his fourth matchup with the organization.

“I’m getting f*cking chills just thinking about it,” Sabatello said. “It’s an absolutely dream come true. You know, all I want to be is just the best fighter on f*cking Earth, and I can obviously have that fortune to display my skillset in just two days and get it.

“Obviously, it’s a massive fight just in general. But to add to it, getting this f*cking belt, which by the way, is not for the interim f*cking belt. Sergio Pettis is not the champion of this division. Sergio Pettis is a p*ssy. He couldn’t even make it in the f*cking world grand prix. So right now, to me, Stots is the champion, and when I beat him, I will be the f*cking champion.”

Sabatello gave his opponent Stots a unique accolade, admitting that Stots is the greatest bantamweight in the category. Naturally, that is concerning himself.

The winner of Friday's Bellator 289 main event will compete in Saturday's Grand Prix final against the victor of Magomed Magomdeov vs. Patchy Mix, which takes place earlier on the main program.