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Jeff WagenheimESPN
Raufeon Stots has been tested repeatedly in the past year — as a fighter and owner of an unfailingly positive attitude.
Shortly before the Bellator Bantamweight World Grand Prix began last April, Stots had to move his fight preparation to a gym halfway across the country from where he’d been training for his entire career. Then the fighter he was scheduled to face in the first round — a longtime Stots teammate, and the reason for his change in gyms — withdrew from the tournament with an injury. Stots was matched with a new opponent, a former champion with an entirely different fighting style. He later relocated to a different city once more, to be closer to family, and again had to switch gyms.
“It might seem like a lot of ups and downs — but not really,” Stots said this week. “It’s really just been all ups for me.”
There he goes with his cage-half-full outlook.
But Stots is not just putting on a stoic face. He is speaking his truth. Over the past year, he has won both of his Grand Prix bouts. The first of those wins, against Juan Archuleta, earned him an interim belt. The other shut up a big-mouthed adversary, Danny Sabatello. And on Saturday, in the main event of Bellator 295 in Honolulu (Showtime, 10 p.m. ET main card), Stots will fight Patchy Mix for the tournament championship and the $1 million prize that comes with it.
The bout will conclude the fight promotion’s annual two-events-in-two-nights visit to Hawaii. Friday’s Bellator 294 (also on Showtime) is headlined by a women’s flyweight championship bout in which Liz Carmouche defends her belt against DeAnna Bennett. As in past years, the Friday event will have no tickets for sale, with all 8,800 seats at Neal S. Blaisdell Arena being reserved for military personnel and first responders. They’ll watch one of their own, as Carmouche spent five years in the U.S. Marine Corps.
“The idea for this came from when I was a kid growing up in South Korea, and our family would go to the army base to watch the entertainers who would come through. It was memorable for me, especially seeing how the military folks appreciated those shows,” Bellator president Scott Coker said. “Now we have an opportunity to give back. And I can’t think of a better group of people that should have a night out at the arena, not have to pay and get to watch some great fights.”
Those who do plunk down their money for the following night’s Bellator 295 can expect a high-level bantamweight showdown. Stots is 19-1 and on an 11-fight winning streak since suffering his only loss in 2017 to Merab Dvalishvili, who is now one of the UFC’s top 135-pounders. Mix is 17-1 and has scored submissions in 11 of his past 12 wins.
“I’m excited for this fight, and I’m excited for what the future holds after that,” Stots said. “Everything is kind of coming full circle.”
He says that because he’s back in Hawaii, where one year ago, almost to the day, he began the grand prix by knocking out Archuleta to capture the interim title. A win on Saturday should give Stots an automatic ticket to a matchup with the fighter he was supposed to face in the opening round, bantamweight champ Sergio Pettis.
Of course, there has to be an added twist in the road ahead for Stots.
The winners of all previous Bellator Grands Prix have been immediately booked against the division’s reigning champion. But Pettis, who had to skip the tournament because of a torn ACL, recently was booked to defend his title on June 16 against featherweight (and former lightweight) champ Patricio “Pitbull” Freire, who will be seeking to become the first fighter to win titles in three weight classes in a major MMA promotion. Saturday’s winner will fight the winner of that bout later in the year.
Perhaps because of Pitbull’s history-making potential in the Pettis fight, Stots does not mind waiting his turn.
“I can’t complain,” he said. “After I win this fight, I’ll have a million dollars in the bank and I can grab some popcorn and freaking hang out and watch a great fight between great fighters. Whoever wins, I will have had one more look at him.”
Stots has had plenty of looks at Pettis, all from up close. They trained together under coach Duke Roufus in Milwaukee for six years. Stots was Pettis’ primary training partner when Pettis was preparing for his 2021 challenge of then-champ Archuleta. Only when Stots and Pettis were booked to meet in the Grand Prix opener did Stots move on from Roufusport, first to Xtreme Couture in Las Vegas, then more recently to his hometown of Houston, where he has worked with former pro fighter Yves Edwards and other coaches. That makes a potential Pettis fight less awkward, but only slightly.
“I never wanted to fight Sergio, who has been a really close friend, like a brother,” Stots said. “But it would not be fair to my family for me to avoid that fight and all that can come with it. My family deserves everything I can bring home in my career. Right now that means a grand prix championship and a big check. After that, I go for the unified world title.”
Coker, for his part, is encouraged that Stots and Pettis have been up for facing each other ever since he brought the idea to them. “They both see the opportunity for a big night,” he said.
Coker also appreciates the patience of Stots and Mix in not stepping in the way of Pitbull’s chance to make history.
“The timing was right, with Pitbull ready to fight at 135 [pounds] and Sergio ready to return. So why wait?” said the Bellator boss. “Pitbull has done so much for this company. He deserves the opportunity. And Saturday’s winner will get to fight either the face of Bellator or the man who gets in the way of him making history. It’ll be a big fight either way.”