Danny Sabatero says he won’t be fighting anymore after a disappointing Professional Fighters League debut.
Sabbatello faced fellow newcomer Lazaro Deiron on Friday at PFL 8, a bout that also marked the launch of the promotion’s bantamweight division. It was a closely fought bout, with Lazaro dropping Sabbatello in the first round and “The Italian Gangster” fighting back with some dominant wrestling in the second.
The final round was a close one, but Deiron was deducted a point for blatantly grabbing the fence, but the bout ended in a controversial majority draw, much to Sabatello’s shock. While he didn’t offer an analysis of the bout, Sabatello believes the point deduction would have been enough to tip the scorecards in his favor.
“I have to look back and I can’t see a scenario in which he could have won the fight because I was given points. That’s a big thing. It’s not like a football game,” Sabatello said in the post-fight press conference. “In martial arts, losses are big. It’s not a loss, but a draw is a loss for me. And I’m not looking at this as who was better or anything like that. By the rules, I won the fight because I was given points. I don’t understand. I’m speechless.”
When asked if he would like a rematch right away, Sabatello said he would like to redo all the fights that have gone against him, but he claims he’s not even sure if he wants to keep fighting in the future.
“I don’t know if I’ll fight again,” he said, “I’m doing it to give it my best. If this is my last fight, that’s fine. I want to do that fight again. I want to do it all again… I don’t want to say I’m done. I’m probably done.”
If he were to return, Sabatero would be looking to face Bellator bantamweight champion Patchy Mix, who he considers the best bantamweight in the world, and Sabatero claims Mix would break the rival organization’s bantamweight champion’s neck. [hinting at UFC
title holder Sean O’Malley].
“I watched him fight Patchy and there’s multiple ways to beat him. He’s the best bantamweight in the world, no matter what anyone says,” Sabatello said. “I have to say Patchy Mix is the best bantamweight in the world right now. If someone from another organization was in that division, Patchy would beat him and break his neck. There’s a level to this.”
Sabatello had lost two straight in Bellator MMA and hadn’t fought since November 2023 prior to his PFL debut on Friday, while Dayron’s PFL debut brought an end to an eight-fight winning streak he had built in regional promotions including Combate Global and Titan FC.
