„Patchy“
Mix didn’t take long to find a new home.
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Within days after
Professional Fighters League confirmed that it had
granted Mix his release, the former Bellator
MMA bantamweight champ was seated cageside for UFC
Vegas 106 on Saturday. That was followed by the announcement
that Mix would be stepping in for Marlon Vera
on short notice against Mario
Bautista at UFC
316.
„You get the call and you answer it,“ Mix said at the UFC Vegas 106
post-fight press conference. „I’m not afraid of anyone in this
division, especially Mario
Bautista. He’s on a seven-fight win streak, and I want that
seven-fight win streak. When they called me, I answered it. I’ll
make weight and I’ll get the job done. It didn’t matter who. I
didn’t mind if he was ranked No. 1 or No. 50. I would’ve gone
against the best, the hardest, the guy they didn’t want anyone to
fight. It didn’t matter. It happened to be him and I think ‚Chito‘
Vera popped his rib or something. They called me within an hour or
two. I was like, ‚Hell yeah.‘ Within a day, I think it was getting
made.”
Mix was one of a number disgruntled Bellator fighters who grew
frustrated with inactivity after PFL took over the organization.
UFC 316 will mark his first cage appearance since he defended his
Bellator crown in a rematch against Magomed
Magomedov in May 2024.
„It sounds [like I’m] just where I belong,“ Mix said. „So many
years. So many fights as a matter of fact. To finally be here is
surreal. But it’s where I belong. … I had to have patience. A lot
of frustration, just not knowing. Obviously, I was going to fight
Leandro
Higo last year. Everyone knew what I’d do to Leandro
Higo. I just wanted to earn some money and stuff and stay
active and keep getting better, keep growing. When that fight got
pulled, I didn’t know when I’d fight.”
Now, Mix will get the chance to combat the perception that fighters
who have enjoyed success outside the UFC have done so against
inferior competition.
„For them to say I wasn’t elite and stuff, it was almost comical to
me because of how much work I was doing and how many people I
submit on a daily basis,“ Mix said. „Now that I’m here, I get a
chance to prove it, and in three weeks, I plan to run him
[Bautista] over. I plan to put him away. I know guys have finished
him before, but I plan on putting him away and prove that I’m
different than everyone else in this division, and I’m different
than all these top-ranked guys.”
Mix’s credentials speak for themselves, and it should come as no
surprise that the 31-year-old has high expectations for himself as
he embarks on his Octagon journey.
„I’m already a multi-time world champion. I’m 20-1 with 16
finishes. I got more finishes and a better record than every single
guy ranked right now,” he said. “I’m already a multi-time world
champion that’s beaten the who’s who in MMA. So, I plan to win this
fight, and I expect to be at the top of the division. Whether it’s
a title fight next, I don’t know, but I don’t mind what it is as
long as it’s a step up.”
While Mix wants to make his way to the top of the UFC’s
bantamweight division, this move is about more than championship
hardware.
„I have money. I have belts. I have all this stuff,” Mix said. “But
I don’t have notoriety and that’s what I’m coming for June 7. I’m
coming to show the world who I am.”