UFC Vegas 51 Fighter to Watch: Pat Sabatini
Unheralded featherweight sophomore looks for his fourth straight UFC victory this weekend and is someone that should be on everyone's radar
Name: Pat Sabatini
Nickname: N/A
Record: 16-3 overall, 3-0 UFC
Division: Featherweight
Team: MPR Endurance MMA / Daniel Gracie Brazilian Jiu Jitsu
Opponent: TJ Laramie (12-4 overall, 0-1 UFC)
Long before I became MMA obsessed, I was baseball obsessed.
We’re talking know all the rosters and prospects for every team, buy all the season guides, and painstakingly build the major league rosters for each team on Hardball III for the first PC we had because MLB licenses weren’t a thing for computer games when I was a kid, but I had no interest in playing with a bunch of randomly named dudes on the Not Quite Seattle Mariners.
Even as a Level 7 Obsessive, there was always that one guy each year when I was inputting stats and determining what kind of batter ratings to assign to each player that made me stop and say, “Really? He had 100 RBIs?” or marvel at their batting average because they played in some market far away from Hamilton, Ontario (where I spent my Grade 8-13 years) and staying up to watch West Coast games was never an option.
It was rarely a fluke either; it was just that the person existed completely off my radar and outside of the mainstream conversations about some of the best talents in the game. If that guy wasn’t on your team or in the same division as your rival, there was a good chance that he was going to be far better than you understood and his numbers were going to surprise you.
Pat Sabatini is the featherweight equivalent of that guy.
No one talks about the Philadelphia native because he’s a little older than most guys starting their sophomore season in the big leagues (he’s 31) and he’s a lunchpail guy — quiet with zero flash, and only worried about getting the win and then getting back to the gym to keep getting better — and guys like that don’t get much attention these days.
But the thing a lot of people probably missed while not paying Sabatini much attention is that the former CFFC champion went 3-0 during his rookie campaign, earning clear decision wins over Tristan Connelly and Tucker Lutz with an instinctual first-round submission win over Jamall Emmers sandwiched in between. In all of those outings, the first-year featherweight showed strong grappling and sharp technique, as well as a high Fight IQ; his intangibles shining brighter than any individual skill.
For all the things we focus on with emerging talents and bright prospects, the things that feel most valuable in assessing how far a fighter could climb once they reach the UFC are the strength of schedule they fought on the way up and how mature they are, both as a fighter and a person, and Sabatini earns high marks in both categories.
He logged six championship appearances while competing for CFFC, easily one of the best and most competitive Triple A promotions in the sport, and navigated some difficult spots along the way, including having his arm gruesomely dislocated in a fight with James Gonzalez that left him considering retirement.
Obviously, he opted to fight on, and has gone 5-0 since, including last year’s trio of wins in his UFC rookie campaign.
“This game is so mental, and being able to say that I’ve been through those kinds of camps, being prepared for those five-rounders is just preparing me for the future,” he told me in December, when we spoke about his first-year success in the Octagon. “The more comfortable I can be in there, the more of the skill set I can show. Those are super-valuable experiences being able to go the full 15 minutes with such high-level fighters.
“I feel like I got into the UFC at the perfect time in my life,” he added. “Before, I wasn’t quite mature enough mentally, and the mental game is everything in this sport. I feel like I have such better control over my mind, which controls my skill set, my performance, my body; everything.”
In some key ways, Sabatini feels similar to his teammate and training partner Sean Brady, who has methodically worked his way into the Top 10 in the welterweight division while maintaining an unbeaten record.
Sure, people talk about Brady in the days leading up to his fights, singing his praises and piling on the plaudits, but once the event is over and he’s earned another victory, he fades from the collective consciousness of the MMA audience that needs you to remain front and center and active on social media in order for you to really hold their attention. Brady earned his first UFC victory in October 2019, then posted a pair of good wins in 2020 that really started to get folks that pay close attention to the sport whispering about his upside and advancement potential in the 170-pound weight class.
Sabatini feels like he’s in a similar position right now, minus the chatter… but it’s going to come.
This weekend, the streaking featherweight makes the first start of his sophomore campaign, squaring off with returning Canadian TJ Laramie, who fills in for injured Canadian Gavin Tucker.
It’s a strange assignment on paper given that Sabatini is 3-0 in the UFC and Laramie got choked out in 52-seconds in his September 2020 debut, but it’s also a chance for Sabatini to potentially make a statement.
If he’s as good as I think he is — and I think he’s quite good — this won’t be a close fight; it will be one-way traffic where the Philadelphia native imposes his will and shows he’s someone more people need to be paying attention to in the featherweight division.