Danny Sabatello Stays True to Himself

Danny Sabatello will never apologize for the man you see. A brash and bold top contender in Bellator MMA’s bantamweight division, he will make his Professional Fighters League debut opposite Lazaro Dayron in the featured PFL 8 prelim this Friday at the Seminole Hard Rock Hotel and Casino in Hollywood, Florida. Sabatello has no intention to stop being himself.

Known for his relentless pace pushing and ability to finish a fight in any matter he needs to, “The Italian Gangster” wants to bring his bravado to the PFL in hopes of making a bigger impact in the future. It starts with his showdown with the unbeaten Dayron.

“I think this is actually going to be a bigger fight than people realize just because [the] PFL doesn’t even have a bantamweight division,” Sabatello told Sherdog.com. “But just for this card specifically and just for me specifically, they’re having a bantamweight fight, so I feel like I’m representing all the bantamweights in Bellator going on this PFL card.”

Not only does Sabatello feel he represents all of the Bellator bantamweight division, but he feels he was given a favorable matchup that will showcase his dominance.

“It’s going to be awesome,” he said. “It’s going to be massive. Fortunate enough to be paired up against a guy that f--king sucks and I can easily beat the s--t out of. I envision myself not only finishing him but straight up dominating him into the finish.”

Focusing on the task at hand, Sabatello also hopes to send a message to the PFL that opening a 135-pound division for its 2025 regular season should be a priority.

“I would imagine that the PFL would eventually have a bantamweight division,” he said. “Obviously, it’s a very stacked division throughout the entire world, but if you look at Bellator specifically, it’s probably their best division. It’s very deep, [with] very high-level guys. You look at our Top 10. We have the best Top 10 guys of any promotion, so of course, I would absolutely hope that [the] PFL would open up a bantamweight division. If not, that’s OK because Bellator still has a bantamweight division. Either way, I will have a strap around my waist eventually. Whether it’s PFL or Bellator, it doesn’t matter to me.”

Looking to make a statement with the PFL, Sabatello indicated he was a big fan of the promotion’s points-based season format. It would keep him busy and active, which he prefers.

“I f--king love it,” he said. “For starters, I love fighting. I love having a zillion fights a year, and with that [PFL format], you fight a bunch of times. I can see how these little pussies don’t like that format because they only want to fight one or two times, then they fake an injury or they pull out and they actually don’t want to fight. I want to fight as much as possible, and with that new format, you fight all the f--king time. Plus, with this new format, we are closer to being one of the big sports.”

With the PFL regular-season setup suiting him as a fighter, Sabatello also won’t shy away from his outspoken personality. Although there are not many rivalries or trash talking situations in the PFL, Sabatello plans to change that.

“I don’t really give a f--k about what’s going on,” he said. “I am going to talk my s--t. That’s just how I have fun with things. I love talking s--t. My two favorite things in life are talking s--t and fighting, and with fighting, I get to do both of those things. No matter what the circumstances are, even if PFL tells me I don’t really have to talk s--t or please don’t talk s--t, I’m going to talk s--t. That’s what I do. It doesn’t matter what the hell we’re doing. I’m going to talk s--t. I also believe in mind games. This is mental warfare in there.”