One star outside the UFC keeps ‘catching strays’ this fight week.
UFC 316 goes down on Saturday and it’s a massive event for the bantamweight division. In the main event, UFC Bantamweight Champion Merab Dvalishvili defends his title in a rematch against Sean O’Malley.
On the undercard, the final Bellator Bantamweight Champion Patchy Mix makes his UFC debut against a top-10 contender in Mario Bautista.
Dvalishvili and Mix are former teammates and share a common opponent on their highlight reels: Raufeon Stots.
Raufeon Stots reacts to his losses to Merab Dvalishvili, Patchy Mix resurfacing ahead of UFC 316
Stots (21-2) is a former interim Bellator bantamweight champion who lost his title to Patchy Mix via KO (knee) in the finale of a $1M tournament in 2023.
Dvalishvili won his UFC contract in 2017 when he knocked out Stots with a spinning backfist 15 seconds into their fight. UFC CEO Dana White originally attended the event to see Stots in action.
“I’ve been catching a lot of strays this week, man,” Stots said on Instagram.
“ESPN, all types of people tagging me…
“Because my only two losses, both of them are fighting this week, pretty big fight,” Stots said of Dvalishvili and Mix.
“Both title fights and title implication fights. And their best highlights just happened to be against me.
“But time heals all wounds, I hope them the best. I hope they come out victorious…
“But I also want them to know that it’s f— you,” Stots joked.
“Gang gang. And if you see me, it’s f— you.”
Raufeon Stots set to face former top-5 UFC contender Sergio Pettis
Former champion Stots has only lost to Dvalishvili and Mix in his 23-fight career.
While he fell short of a UFC contract in 2017, Stots has defeated some of the best fighters in the world including former Bellator and RIZIN champion Juan Archuleta, Magomed Magomedov and Danny Sabatello (twice).
Stots is currently signed to the PFL where he is set to take on former Bellator champion and ex-UFC contender Sergio Pettis on June 27th in Chicago.
Stots and Pettis are former training partners, having to put their friendship aside for their upcoming bantamweight fight.