.@BellatorMMA
is proud to announce that No. 4-ranked men’s pound-for-pound
Bantamweight World Champion @sergiopettis
and Interim Bantamweight Champion @TeamMixMMA
have been re-signed to multi-fight contract extensions. https://t.co/VS8xshuZrd pic.twitter.com/T1UZqwbpWu— Bellator Public Relations (@BellatorPR)
July 13, 2023
Bellator MMA is making sure that the top of its
bantamweight division is sticking around for the foreseeable
future.
Per a press release on Thursday from the promotion, Bellator has
signed bantamweight champion Sergio
Pettis (23-5) and interim titleholder Patrick Mix
(18-1) to extended multi-fight deals. The league has done so prior
to their 135-pound unification match, which is set to go down at an
undisclosed date. The terms of the contracts are not being made
public, nor how many fights either man has agreed to with Bellator.
The fighters will remain exclusive to the organization.
In June, Pettis staved off Bellator great Patricio
Freire from his attempt at becoming the first three-division
champ in major MMA history. Over the course of five rounds, “The
Phenom” handled the typically aggressive Freire, with his speed and
unexpected power making the difference en route to a pair of 50-45
scorecards along with one tallying 49-46. This made the Roufusport
product the second bantamweight kingpin in company history to
record two consecutive defenses, with the first Eduardo
Dantas.
Facing Pettis at a date still undetermined for the undisputed strap
will be Mix, who blazed through the grand prix by outworking
Kyoji
Horiguchi, tapping Magomed
Magomedov and sparking Raufeon
Stots in the span of a year. In the process, Mix claimed the
interim belt and a million-dollar check, the former created when
Pettis could not enter the tournament due to injury. Since losing
to Juan
Archuleta for the vacant throne in 2020, Mix has not lost, with
four finishes across his five victories. Of note, he is the first
to tap out submission specialist James
Gallagher, the first to finish Magomedov and just one of two to
beat Stots.