Patchy Mix doesn’t care much about perception when it comes to his standing among the best bantamweights in the world, because he knows in a fight, he beats them all.
The reigning Bellator champion at 135 pounds has rattled off six wins in a row, all by finish, with a nearly spotless 19-1 record overall. The only blemish on his résumé came in a close decision loss to Juan Archuleta nearly four years ago and he’s been unstoppable ever since.
Because he not doing that in UFC, Mix doesn’t have the biggest name or following in the sport just yet, but he’s not losing sleep over it. Of course, Mix knows he’s capable of beating UFC caliber competition — he’s been doing that for years already.
“Even before [I got to Bellator], I was fighting Tony Gravely and Andre Ewell — Andre Ewell made his UFC debut against Renan Barao and beat his ass,” Mix told MMA Fighting. “I fought Andre Ewell for $2,000 and beat him in a minute something and he didn’t land one punch on me. Then six months later he’s in the UFC. Same with Tony Gravely. I submitted him in like 80 seconds and then three months later, he’s in the UFC.
“I’ve been doing this since I was 5-0, 6-0. Now I’m 20 fights deep. That was 14 fights ago I was fighting those guys. I know I’ve been tested.”
On almost a daily basis, Mix spends a lot of time in the gym training alongside top UFC bantamweight contender Merab Dvalishvili. They’ve sparred dozens of rounds together and it’s safe to say both fighters can attribute at least some of their shared success to one another.
While he doesn’t have a date yet, Dvalishvili is expected to face Sean O’Malley for the UFC title later this year and is already gearing up for that fight.
Even though he counts Dvalisvhili as one of his closest teammates, Mix doesn’t dismiss the possibility that O’Malley could win that fight, but he’s certainly not counting on it.
“I think Merab has the upper hand because of his cardio, but assessing it as a fight fan, O’Malley has some dangerous techniques that he can catch those shorter opponents coming in,” Mix said. “That knee, the uppercut, he has a good cross, good boxing, and Merab’s shown that he can get hurt in fights if he chooses to just box. I think Merab’s tough enough to go through the fire even if O’Malley does hurt him. I think he can grind on him.
“A lot of people would say Merab by decision, but I don’t think O’Malley is a five-round fighter if it gets ugly. I just don’t think he’ll survive five rounds with Merab. I think Merab will actually finish him.”
Mix has even more confidence in his own chances against O’Malley, because he’s not giving up any size or reach to the reigning UFC bantamweight champion, which could be the biggest detriment working against Dvalisvhili.
“If you ask me versus [O’Malley], there ain’t no damn doubt — I think I would finish Sean O’Malley without a damn doubt,” Mix said. “The bigger question people ask me, how would I beat him? How would he beat me?
“How would he not get taken down by me and viciously strangled? Because he didn’t get taken down by [Aljamain Sterling]? Petr Yan got him down four times! We all know how the fight would go with me and Yan too, so I don’t want to hear that guy’s name either. It’s comedy.”
There may come a day when Mix gets to back up his words, but for now he’s keeping his sole focus locked on his title challenger for Friday’s Bellator Paris main event, Magomed Magomedov — a fighter he knows competes at the same level, or even better, than many of the top bantamweights in the UFC.
“I’ll tell you this, there’s not many as dangerous as him,” Mix said of Magomedov. “He’s 20-3 with 14 finishes. He’s got one less finish than me. I think 20-3 is a better record than I think the entire top five in the UFC. He’s got more finishes than all those guys too. This guy’s dangerous. They just think because I beat him or I finished him that they write him off.
“This is the same guy that beat Petr Yan. The same guy that almost choked out Petr Yan the second time they fought. The same guy that was a couple seconds away from beating Raufeon Stots the last time they fought. The same guy I’ve got my hands full with. The last thing I’m going to do is take him lightly.”
