Jornel Lugo still plans to fight smart despite dislike for Danny Sabatello

HONOLULU – The vitriol Danny Sabatello threw the way of Jornel Lugo on Wednesday wasn’t quite matched by Lugo – but Lugo made it clear there’s no love lost.

Lugo said if Sabatello changes the type of person he is one day, maybe he’d wish him well. But absent that, Lugo has no hope for anything good for his next opponent – who spent the bulk of his media day interview ripping Lugo in all kinds of colorful ways.

With a win over Sabatello (11-1 MMA, 1-0 BMMA), Lugo (8-0 MMA, 5-0 BMMA) will stay on the path to a Bellator title. Their fight is a wild card bout to open Bellator’s bantamweight grand prix at Bellator 278 on Friday in Honolulu.

The winner of the fight will move into the semifinals of the bracket to take on Leandro Higo. Ultimately, the tournament winner will be Bellator’s interim bantamweight champion and get a title unification bout against champ Sergio Pettis.

Check out Lugo’s full pre-fight media day interview in the video above.