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(Exclusive) Raufeon Stots Brands PFL Debut "Battle of the Little Giants"

The Bellator veteran is set to make his PFL debut on Saturday in Saudi Arabia.

Drew Beaupre

(Bellator MMA

Former Interim Bellator Bantamweight Champion Raufeon Stots returns this Saturday to face Marcos Breno in the featured prelim of PFL Super Fights: Battle of the Giants, and ahead of the fight “Supa” spoke to MMA KO’s Drew Beaupré.

Returning To Action Against Breno

It’s been nearly a year since fans last saw Stots step into the cage, and the 35-year-old is excited to get back into action in Riyadh, Saudi Arabi following the PFL’s acquisition of Bellator late last year.

“I haven’t fought in a year, so I’m ready to get back in it, get back at it and unleash some [violence]. Unleash some frustration, and have good time in Saudi Arabia…I’m somebody who likes to fight often, so I would have loved to have fought often. But I understand you know, with the acquisition of a whole promotion, there’s things behind the scenes that I don’t really understand. I don’t get paid enough to know what’s going on behind the scenes…Because this is something new, this is something different. But with that, I understand. But in a perfect world, I’d have been fighting. Fighting is how I raise a [living] for the most part, and I like hurting people I don’t know. I don’t really like beating up my training partners.”

“I think [Breno is] also somebody coming off of a long [layoff], and he had a lackluster fight his last fight. I don’t think he fought to his potential this last fight. So this fight, I believe he’s gonna come out guns blazing, and I think he’s gonna come out ready to throw some bombs. He has heavy hands, he’s well-rounded…I’m expecting the best Marco Breno that there’s been, just because of the circumstances. This is the biggest card, this is the highest-touted opponent that he’s had…I’m also expecting to run through this guy like butter. Because I’m on the same kind of thing. I mean, I won my last fight, so I’m on a win streak, but I haven’t fought in a year and I’m dying to get my hands on somebody. Like literally, frickin’ chomping at the bit to hurt somebody.”

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Featured Prelim At PFL Super Fights

Stots and Breno are scheduled as the final prelim fight for Battle of the Giants before things move on to a stacked PPV main card that’s headlined by Francis Ngannou vs. Renan Ferreira.

“It’s like the battle of – Francis Ngannou and Renan is like the battle of the big giants, and this is like the battle of the little giants. ‘Cause we’re gonna just be f***ing rabid and go after each other, but obviously we’re a little smaller than frickin’ heavyweights. Yeah man, I’m excited man.”

He may not be a part of the night’s PPV, but “Supa” knows that the PFL brass put him in the featured prelim spot to make sure fans tune in for the five-fight main card afterwards.

“I’m looking at it – because I was the co-main event in California, which was cool, but they told me that they needed me for this card. So I’m taking that as ‘You need some Raufeon flair, you need some frickin’ guys that’s gonna go in there and bang it out.’ To boost pay-per-view numbers, and I’m taking it just as that. I lost like a co-main spot, but I gained the biggest PFL fight there is. The biggest PFL fight there is to make, this is the biggest card of the year, and I got the featured prelim spot on that card. So I’m excited, and then I also – I feel like this fight again, is like the Temu version of the main event. So you’re gonna get a little bit of what’s gonna happen…You’ve got a veteran African, and you’ve got a young Brazilian, you know what I mean? Young to the viewers. And you get to see how both of ‘em interact. So tune into my fight, and you might get a glimpse of what the big boys are gonna do.”

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Future With The PFL & Bellator

Fighting under the PFL banner for the very first time, Stots also values the chance to compete on the same card where Ngannou will make his long-awaited PFL debut after leaving the UFC as the promotion’s reigning heavyweight king.

“It’s finally starting to take shape, or this is the beginning of it taking shape and things coming true of what [the PFL] said they were gonna do. This is the biggest card of the year. Francis Ngannou, who’s been dominating and boxing and coming back to MMA. You’ve got this big Brazilian Renan, who’s this unstoppable problem. So yeah man, it’s also in Saudi Arabia. I’ve never fought in Saudi Arabia, so that in itself is a pretty cool thing to be on. And me also, just being a Nigerian – or my dad is from Nigeria, I’m of Nigerian descent – me to be able to fight on Francis Ngannou’s card in lieu of there hopefully being a PFL Africa coming into existence, that’s something super cool for me and my family.”

“I feel like there’s a lot of potential [for me with the PFL], a lot of big things that can happen. I guess it partly depends on the way PFL wants to head. As far as me, I’m somebody who wants to fight often. Like as long as I get that, then I’m pretty open. I’m like open for whatever. As long as I’m fighting and I’m able to fight for my worth and compete, then I’m a happy dude.”

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Rematch With Patchy Mix

Stots’ immediate concern under the Bellator banner is setting up a rematch with Bellator Bantamweight Champion Patchy Mix, who is the only man to defeat him other than recently-crowned UFC Bantamweight Champion Merab Dvalishvili.

“Let me just put my name in the hat for that [fight with Mix]. I feel like I should be the next in line for the belt. If the division was still intact – I don’t know if it is or not – I’m sitting at number two. I mean, the only people that I’ve lost to have been the current world champions. And on top of that, the way that I lost have been flukes. And the only reason I say that they’re flukes, is because they can’t recreate that. They’re not recreating, they’re not doing that often. I’m the only exception. God chose me for lightning to strike on. But, no disrespect to those guys, I just feel like I’m the guy that has the most viable chance to take the belt off those guys’ shoulders.”

(Exclusive) Raufeon Stots Brands PFL Debut "Battle of the Little Giants"
Stots came up short in a bantamweight title unification bout with Mix at Bellator 295 last year. / (Bellator MMA)

“It was a long time ago. Patchy Mix’s win kind of holds more weight over that Merab fight, because that’s a more recent fight. But I’m petty, I want all my last losses back.”

The bantamweight bout between Stots and Breno will take place as the final prelim bout of PFL Super Fights: Battle of the Giants in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia on Saturday (October 19) before the stacked PPV main card that features three title bouts.

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Drew Beaupre
DREW BEAUPRE

Drew is an MMA writer that regularly watches regional events in addition to major promotions such as the UFC, PFL, Bellator, and ONE Championship. He joined MMA Knockout when it was founded in 2023.

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