Prior to Bellator contract offer, Raufeon Stots inched toward walking away from MMA

Raufeon Stots is finally there.

For years, Stots (12-1 MMA, 0-0 BMMA) was regarded as one of the best pound-for-pound prospects in North America. That was true in the eyes of nearly everyone except those who mattered most: the major promotions.

The wait wore on Stots, both mentally and financially. As bantamweight after bantamweight with lesser resumes were signed, Stots was left in limbo.

“Just because the financial strain and me having a son, I felt like I was counting on other people to give me the opportunities I need,” Stots told MMA Junkie. “It was frustrating because I was working as hard as I could.”

As time passed, Stots creeped closer and closer to calling it quits altogether. He was struggling to find fights on the regional circuit, and the opportunities that surfaced had little reward with high risk.

“I didn’t know how much longer I was going to be able to keep it up fighting on the regional circuit,” Stots said. “Because you don’t get into MMA to be average. You don’t make a lot of money. It’s really dangerous to your health. It’s not something that you want to be average in. I just felt like if I didn’t make a jump or do something soon, I was going to have to give it up.”

But through all of the adversity, Stots’ head was leveled by the coaches at Roufusport in Milwaukee. They encouraged him to keep his eyes on the prize and good things would come. Sure enough, they were right.

“Sometimes I would come into the gym not Raufeon,” Stots said. “I’d come in just mad as hell wanting to hurt somebody kind of thing. But yeah, they just told me to stick to the path. It’ll all work out. And they were right. They were right.”

In late November, the call finally came. Bellator was on the other line and Stots inked a multi-fight deal with the promotion.

When pen was put to paper, Stots had a chip on his shoulder toward all of the other promotions. He wanted to set out to prove all of the other promotions wrong. But over time, those feelings have faded. Stots is happy with Bellator, and that’s all that matters to him.

“At first, I thought I’d say ‘Forget you’ to these other organizations,” Stots said. “But I feel like it’s like the girl that asked me out, it turns out she took her glasses off and she’s the pretty one. … I’m so happy to be with Bellator, the other feelings kind of dissipate. I don’t feel any animosity toward the other organizations because I’m happy.”

Next week, Stots will debut at Bellator 236 against Dana White’s Contender Series alum Cheyden Leialoha (7-1 MMA, 0-0 BMMA) in Honolulu.

“This is my coming out party,” Stots said. “I put a lot into this camp. I’m looking to be exciting and be a finisher in the Bellator ranks. I don’t feel there’s any fight in the Bellator ranks that scares me. I feel like there’s a lot of tough people and I can beat them all. It’s just time for me to cement my legacy and start chasing gold.”

Bellator 236 takes place Dec. 21 at Neal S. Blaisdell Center in Honolulu. The main card streams on DAZN after prelims on MMA Junkie.