Danny Sabatello reveled in fans rooting against him at Bellator 282

UNCASVILLE, Conn. – Danny Sabatello was mostly dominant Friday at Bellator 282, but there’s a five-minute stretch that bothers him.

Sabatello (13-1 MMA, 3-0 BMMA) took a unanimous decision from Leandro Higo (21-6 MMA, 4-4 BMMA) in their quarterfinal fight in the bantamweight grand prix. Sabatello won with a trio of 49-46 scores at Mohegan Sun Arena in Uncasville, Conn. Higo took the second round, but Sabatello was in control after that.

“What I didn’t specifically like about this fight was in that second round, I faced some adversity,” Sabatello told MMA Junkie after the fight. “I had a guy like Higo on my back – who’s an absolute killer on somebody’s back. I weathered that storm, I got up, I smiled – I was happy I got out of it.

“And then I just pushed forward to the next round and absolutely f*cking dominated him. He built up some f*cking aggression, some momentum, getting that second round victory. I didn’t give one f*ck. I had all the fans against me. I had everybody against me. I didn’t give a f*ck. I still went out there and dominated him. You can call it whatever the f*ck it is.”

The win moved the brash, trash talk-happy Sabatello into the semifinals and a fight against interim champion Raufeon Stots later this year. A win in that one would make him the interim champ and push him into the tournament final with $1 million on the line.

Clearly, his next trip to the cage will be the biggest and most important fight of his career. His talking was on point against Higo, and almost without question it’ll be ramped up for Stots, who is likely to chirp back.

Friday, Sabatello had the bulk of fans in the arena against him – and he reveled in it.

“That was f*cking awesome,” he said. “Obviously, any time I can rile up a crowd, whether they’re on my side or not on my side, I don’t give a f*ck. The boos were music to my cauliflower ears. It was f*cking awesome.

“I get in these guys’ heads before these fights. I very much believe in mental warfare. Obviously, I felt like I was in his head before the fight. I saw it in his eyes. Once we got into that cage, he was a little bit timid, a little bit cautious.”

Check out Sabatello’s complete post-fight interview in the video above.