HONOLULU – Juan Archuleta is ready to prove the oddsmakers wrong.
Archuleta (25-3 MMA, 7-2 BMMA) faces Raufeon Stots (17-1 MMA, 5-0 BMMA) for the interim bantamweight title Saturday at Bellator 279, which takes place at Neal S. Blaisdell Center and airs on Showtime following prelims on MMA Junkie. The matchup also serves as an opening-round bout in the 135-pound grand prix.
Stots is as much as a -300 favorite at some online sportsbooks and former champion Archuleta is rather surprised at the odds.
“I didn’t even know I was the underdog that’s how much I give a sh*t about the oddsmakers,” Archuleta told MMA Junkie at Thursday’s Bellator 279 media day. “They could all suck it, so f*ck them. They do what they do and they could all suck it again and a lot of people are gonna make a lot of money come fight night.”
Reigning champion Sergio Pettis holds a win over Archuleta and his withdrawal from the tournament is what set up the interim title opportunity. However, with Pettis sidelines for an undetermined amount of time, Archuleta said he will consider himself a champion with a win over Stots.
“This is a title fight,” Archuleta said. “This is the best title fight you can make in the division. This is probably who I would have been fighting if not (Kyoji) Horiguchi for one of my title defenses, so this being the title is correctly made by Bellator.”
Juan Archuleta: Oddsmakers can ‘suck it’ for Bellator 279 underdog status vs. Raufeon Stots
