Danny Sabatello of ATT isn’t going to Hawaii for vacation. He’s going to fight at Bellator 278

When people travel to Hawaii, you think vacation.

Not Danny Sabatello.

The Chicago native will be looking for a fight, and he will get one in Honolulu on April 22 during Bellator MMA 278 on Showtime.

Sabatello, known as “The Italian Gangster,” will face Jornel Lugo on the main card with the winner qualifying for the Bellator Grand Prix Bantamweight Tournament. The winner of the tournament, winning three more fights, earns $1 million.

At Bellator 278, this is a battle of South Florida-trained fighters. Sabatello (11-1) works out at the award winning American Top Team in Coconut Creek, while Lugo prepares at Combat Club in West Palm Beach. Sabatello, a former Titan FC champion, is on a five-match win streak, and Lugo is undefeated at 8-0.

Here is my video interview with Sabatello.

Sabatello, 29, is originally from Chicago, where he is a fan of Chicago-style deep dish pizza (Lou Malnati’s) and the Chicago Cubs. His favorite player is Anthony Rizzo, who starred for the history-making World Series Champions Cubs and is now with the New York Yankees.

Rizzo, who Sabatello hopes to meet one day, excelled in baseball at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, which is near American Top Team in Coconut Creek.

Sabatello moved to South Florida to train at American Top Team, featuring top fighters and coaches from around the world.

A former Titan FC MMA champ, he is a graduate of of Adlai E. Stevenson High School in Lincolnshire, Illinois, and Purdue University where his older brothers, Joey and Vinny, attended. He earned his college degree in law and society with a minor in organizational leadership and supervision.

Sabatello is a two-time Illinois state champion high school wrestler. He went 152-19 in his high school wrestling career, including his first two years at St. Viator High School. He finished fourth at the state tournament as a sophomore for St. Viator to become one of four students to place at state for the school.

He then won consecutive state titles as a junior and senior at 119 and 125 pounds at Stevenson to become the first state champion in school history. During his senior year, he went 41-0 to rank No. 12 at 125 pounds in the nation via InterMat.

At Purdue, he was a three-time NCAA Championships qualifier (133, 141) and a two-time 141-pound Big Ten Championship place-winner. He made more history, becoming the first Purdue wrestler to twice earn Big Ten Wrestler of the Week honors.

He comes from a tight nit Chicago family with his brothers and parents, Greg and Nancy. They all support his efforts, cheering for him. Though, mom does not like seeing her “baby boy” get hit in the face, she saw him win frequently on the mat and is now watching him do the same in the cage.

Bellator 278 will be on Bellator YouTube, Showtime YouTube and Pluto TV. The main card will be on Showtime.

Sabatello’s Instagram: ShockThisWorld

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Jim Varsallone

Miami Herald

305-376-3621

Jim Varsallone writes a high school sports column twice a week, featuring top performers in all varsity sports (boys and girls) in Broward and Miami-Dade counties. He also covers pro wrestling, something he’s done since his college days in the late 1980s. Now in his fifth decade of coverage, he currently follows WWE (Raw, SmackDown and NXT), AEW, Ring of Honor, TNA Impact Wrestling, MLW, WOW, NWA, and the South Florida indies, mainly CCW. He writes MMA, too -- mostly profile stories and video interviews with American Top Team and Sanford MMA fighters in South Florida. As for pro wrestling, he writes feature stories and profile pieces, updates upcoming show schedules in South Florida, photographs the action and interviews talent (audio and video) -- sharing the content here and via social media on his Facebook, Twitter and YouTube channel: jim varsallone (jimmyv3 channel). Support my work with a digital subscription