Raufeon Stots suggests bantamweight Grand Prix
Raufeon Stots
With competitors and an uninhabited title, Raufeon Stots suggests a Grand Prix.
Stots just recently commemorated 5 years as an expert and has actually delighted in a great quantity of success on the local circuit, contending for the similarity the LFA (and LFC) and Triumph FC, together with a look on Dana White’s Lookin’ for a Battle, prior to signing with Bellator in 2015.
In a special interview with FanSided Mixed Martial Arts, Stots associates his success to a mix of not taking any faster ways and best timing.
“Man, I feel like thus far I’ve done it the right way and taken the toughest fights I can take,” Stots informed FanSided Mixed Martial Arts. “And I’m very comfortable with my career and where my career is allowing me to get. I think I’ve signed, kind of, right at the right time, where my skill level and my knowledge is up there with world champions. So, now all I got to do is put that skill to work and become a world champion.”
And so far, Stots has actually revealed he can be a well-rounded bundle like he intends to be, scoring an even quantity of knockouts and submissions in the battles he’s ended up so far. And in his 13 expert battles, he’s lost simply one– the battle on Lookin’ for a Battle at a June 2017 Ring of Combat event, where he was knocked out in 15 seconds by present UFC fighter Merab Dvalishvili.
While plenty may feel shattered at losing in such a style, particularly with a possible UFC agreement on the line, Stots states he had the ability to discover a crucial lesson that he takes into all of his battles now– be prepared from the minute the bell rings.
” I determined and [what] I took from that battle was that if you sign an agreement to eliminate me, you’re gon na combat up or you’re going to come show approximately combat,” Stots stated. “I feel like I was competing at my opponents — what I felt like their level was, or whatever. So I didn’t show up to right away. I figured the fight would kind of play itself out. But that showed me that I got to be ready from the jump because these guys — they’re anxious and they’re ready to take my head off from the jump. They know I’m dangerous, so, I got to fight like I’m approaching somebody whose back’s against the wall.”
Raufeon Stots has numerous names in mind after Bellator 242 and Cass Bell
Stots took the lessons he gained from losing out on a UFC agreement and utilized them to his benefit, winning his next battle and going 3-0 in the LFA to make a handleBellator Stots formally made his Bellator debut at Bellator 236 in December, where he scored a consentaneous decision win over Cheyden Leialoha.
“It was amazing to not only make my Bellator debut but make it in Hawaii was probably — I didn’t know it was on my bucket list but it was definitely on my bucket list,” Stots stated. “So happy I got to do that experience there with my family I got to bring out my mother-in-law and I got to bring out my son — he was like one and eight months or so. I got to bring him and my wife and it was amazing.”
Stots was all set to continue his momentum and maintain battles and winning methods Bellator when unexpectedly the sports world was required to take a time out due to the coronavirus pandemic. The July 24 Bellator card marks the promo’s first in about 5 months.
Stots states the later-than-usual notification and deal of a battle might have been not typical however he felt remaining in a smaller sized team like Roufusport and assisting a few of his colleagues get ready for their UFC battles assisted get him combat all set.
He includes that it assists that Bellator is planned-out and so on-point with its fighters and COVID-19 procedures and screenings. And he feels honored that on a little battle card to mark Bellator’s return, he was among the fighters picked.
“I’m super impressed with Bellator and how everything’s set up,” Stots stated. “I have actually cornered at one of the UFC occasions, and Bellator, they’re actually on top of whatever. We took a test prior to we left. We took a test to enter Connecticut, I think, over a Zoom conference. And after that we got to test after we left the airport here. We got a test soon as we got to our space that Sunday therefore we could not leave up until after we got the results from ourtest We were quarantined in our space for around 24 hours. We got the test back. And after that so every early morning we’ll do a temperature level and a survey check. We have actually been checked 2 times so far. I believe we’ll be checked another 2 prior to we leave. I’m quite safe; we’re doing respectable on COVID.
” I feel blessed, I feel grateful. ‘Is it true? Y’ all actually like me like that?’ Yeah, I simply feel grateful and blessed.”
And while lockdowns all over the world in action to the pandemic left him with no battles on his schedule, Stots stated he took benefit of his spare time, dealing with home tasks, enhancing his home gym and spending quality time with his family.
“This sport doesn’t allow for a lot of quality time with your family, so I feel like that was a good reset for me,” Stots stated. “I don’t need to be out and about so much. I’m like, kind of an introvert, but I can be extroverted if I need to, but I can really be home, so it gave me an excuse to be home.”
At Bellator 242, Stots will handle Cass Bell, an unbeaten, up-and-coming bantamweight leading possibility who has actually invested all of his young expert Mixed Martial Arts profession inBellator Stots has actually captivated by ending up all however among his battles so far, however Stots will certainly be his most difficult test to date.
And Stots feels his experience and heart will be excessive for Bell to get rid of and he will hand Bell his first defeat.
“He’s going to fight up, so I’m excited to see what he brings, but I know he’s going to be a tough fight,” Stots stated. “I don’t want to say he’s been as tested as me. But, you know, every fight is different and I got to go out there and dominate excited and finish this fight.”
“I’ve been focusing on my will and my mindset a lot this camp. Positive thinking, positive and dominating thinking is something I focus on a lot, and I feel like it’s gonna show up in the way I fight.”
And Stots states when this battle is done, there’s a lot of people he wishes to deal with on the course towards the Bellator bantamweight championship, which has actually been uninhabited because late November 2019 after Kyoji Horiguchi gave up the title due to injury.
In truth, Stots has a concept that the bantamweight division might go next in being offered a Grand Prix competition.
” There’s a lot of people ducking and evading me behind the scenes, so there’s a number of people that I ‘d like to [face],” Stots stated. “I would love if we had a bantamweight tourney — a Grand Prix tourney – because then I could face a lot of them. I want to face all of them, so a Grand Prix would be nice. A name like Patchy Mick, Leandro Higo, those names excite me.”
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Bellator 242 happens on Friday July 24, 2020, live from Mohegan Sun Arena in Uncasville, CT. Follow together with FanSided for all your live news and highlights.
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