From start to brutal finish, Patchy Mix left no doubt about his standing among Bellator bantamweights.
Mix put an exclamation point on a dominant run through the promotions bantamweight grand prix Saturday night when he knocked out interim champ Raufeon Stots with a vicious knee in the Bellator 295 headliner at Neal S. Blaisdell Arena in Honolulu. All Mix (18-1 MMA, 7-1 BMMA) needed was 80 seconds to land flush on the chin to polish off Stots (19-2 MMA, 7-1 BMMA) in the tournament final, claim the title belt and earn the $1 million prize.
“People think I’m just a ground guy. I just knocked out 19-1 Raufeon Stots in a minute with my backside knee,” Mix said afterward. “I’ve been working that for months. I knew he dips, and I knew I could catch him. I earned these belts, I earned a million dollars, I earned my black belt tonight. So let’s get it, let’s go.”
😱 @TeamMixMMA's KO is even more INSANE in slow motion!#Bellator295 | LIVE NOW | @SHOsports pic.twitter.com/w5IzmqifGl
— Bellator MMA (@BellatorMMA) April 23, 2023
Mix, 29, had his way throughout the tournament as he defeated former champ Kyoji Horiguchi by lopsided unanimous decision in the quarterfinals almost one year to the day. Then he submitted Magomed Magomedov with a guillotine choke in the second round of their semifinal last December before Saturday night’s finish of Stots.
Mix pushed his overall winning streak to five and completed a run toward redemption as his previous loss came in a title fight to then-champion Juan Archuleta in September 2020.
Mix will get a chance to unify the belt against the winner of June’s title fight between champ Sergio Pettis, who’s returning from a torn ACL, and former two-division champ Patricio Freire making his bantamweight debut.
Mix can’t wait.
“I’ll be there,” Mix said. “I’ll sit there cageside. I’ll be there to watch. It don’t matter.”
Complete Bellator 295 results:
- Patchy Mix def. Raufeon Stots via knockout (knee) – Round 1, 1:20; to win bantamweight grand prix and interim title
- Ilima-Lei Macfarlane def. Kana Watanabe via split decision (28-29, 29-28, 29-28)
- Yancy Medeiros def. Charlie Leary via submission (rear-naked choke) – Round 1, 4:39
- Aaron Pico def. James Gonzalez via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)
- Mads Burnell def. Justin Gonzales via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)
- Kai Kamaka def. Adli Edwards via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)
- Sumiko Inaba def. Veta Arteaga via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)
- Aalon Cruz def. Bobby King via unanimous decision (30-27, 29-28, 29-28)
- Davion Franklin def. Kasim Aras via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)
- Bruna Ellen def. Ilara Joanne via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)
- Masayuki Kikuiri def. Alexey Shurkevich via knockout (punch) – Round 2, 4:33
For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for Bellator 295.
