By The Numbers: Raufeon Stots vs. Danny Sabatello

Raufeon Stots seeks to preserve his power in Bellator MMA, even as he pursues more.

The Roufusport star will defend the promotion’s interim 135-pound championship when his bantamweight grand prix semifinal opposite Danny Sabatello headlines Bellator 289 on Friday at the Mohegan Sun Arena in Uncasville, Connecticut. Stots rides into the match on a remarkable 10-fight winning streak. He last appeared at Bellator 279, where he vanquished Juan Archuleta with a head kick and follow-up punches in the third round of their April 23 quarterfinal. Sabatello, meanwhile, has rattled off seven straight victories. The American Top Team export last fought on June 24, when he took a five-round unanimous decision from Leandro Higo in their tournament quarterfinal at Bellator 282.

As Stots and Sabatello inch ever closer to their showdown in The Constitution State, a look at some of the numbers that have accompanied them to this point:

33: Years of age for Stots, who was born on Dec. 16, 1988 in Houston.

4: Stots wins by submission, accounting for 22% of his career total (18). He delivered all four via rear-naked choke. Stots holds four other wins by knockout or technical knockout (22%) and 10 more by decision (56%).

15: Seconds needed for Merab Dvalishvili to wipe out Stots with a spinning backfist at a Ring of Combat event on June 2, 2017. Five-plus years later, it remains the lone blemish on the Duke Roufus protégé’s resume.

43: Rounds completed by Stots as a professional mixed martial artist. He has gone the distance on 10 different occasions and carries a perfect 10-0 record in those bouts.

87: Combined victories between the six men—Archuleta, Magomed Magomedov, Josh Hill, Keith Lee, Cass Bell and Cheyden Leialoha—Stots has beaten as a member of the Bellator roster. They boast a .813 cumulative winning percentage at 87-20.

29: Years of age for Sabatello, who was born in Chicago on March 31, 1993.

3: Sabatello victories by knockout or technical knockout, accounting for 23% of his career total (13). His list of victims: Philip Keller, Jhon Barragan and Cesar Danny Gonzalez. Sabatello owns four other victories by submission (31%) and six more by decision (46%).

53: Seconds needed for Sabatello to cut down Gonzalez with a head kick at an Underground Cage Fighting Championship show on Nov. 17, 2018. More than four years later, it remains his fastest finish to date.

5: Consecutive calendar years in which Sabatello has fought at least once. In addition to his 2-0 mark in 2022, he went 2-0 in 2018, 4-1 in 2019, 3-0 in 2020 and 2-0 in 2021.

.828: Cumulative winning percentage among the three men—Higo, Jornel Lugo and Brett Johns—Sabatello has defeated since he linked arms with Bellator. They sport a combined record of 48-10.