Nigerian-born MMA fighter Raufeon Stots defended his Bellator Interim Bantamweight Title in a tightly contested split decision victory.

In the semi finals of the Bellator World Bantamweight Grand Prix, interim champion Raufeon Stots faced his toughest test yet after being matched up with Danny Sabatello. 

Sabatello is not only a good wrestler but a big talker as well, and the build up to this fight was very heated; for months.

Both men came into the fight undefeated in Bellator and with only a single loss to their names overall. 

The fight was back and forth, with Raufeon looking to keep his distance and strike while Danny wanted to hold and control positions, which were mostly well defended by Raufeon. 

In the end, most of the judges favoured Raufeon’s aggression over Danny’s holding and control time. 

Raufeon now moves on to the final against Patchy Mix, who submitted Stots’ former opponent Magomed Magomedov earlier in the card to earn his spot.

The winner of the final, which takes place in 2023, will win $1,000,000 and also get a chance to unify the division against undisputed champion Sergio Pettis.