Patchy Mix’s UFC Struggles

Matt Brown weighed in on Patchy Mix’s tough UFC debut, highlighting it as a wake-up call about the level of competition in the UFC.

Mix has established himself as one of the most elite bantamweights during his time in Bellator. Mix is known for his grappling and submission skills, with 13 of his 20 professional wins coming by way of submission. His most significant achievements include capturing the Interim and undisputed Bellator Bantamweight World Championships.

Mix earned the interim title and the Bellator Bantamweight World Grand Prix in 2023 in a first-round knockout victory over Raufeon Stots. Mix then unified the title by submitting Sergio Pettis at Bellator 301. He further solidified his reign with a successful title defense against Magomed Magomedov in May 2024. His biggest wins came against Kyoji Horiguchi and James Gallagher. Nevertheless, his UFC career began on the back foot. 

The Future

The former Bellator bantamweight champ made his UFC debut at UFC 316, stepping in to replace Marlon Vera against Mario Bautista. He suffered a unanimous decision loss. Mix had recently signed with the UFC following a rocky stint with the PFL after its 2023 acquisition of Bellator. While he hoped to make an immediate impact on the UFC’s bantamweight division, Brown feels the level of competition will prove problematic.

“I’ll tell you what, the UFC just has the best fighters in the world. I think these few fights that we talk about where these guys are coming as champions from other [promotions] and everybody thinks they’re so good, I think it just shows the level of disparity of competition in the UFC.

“Maybe the lights and the media and all that kind of stuff play a role in it but I think it just shows the disparity. The number 15 guy [in the UFC] could be champion in any other promotion that he went to. It’s just an extreme difference between the UFC and everybody else. They have control of this sport, of all the best fighters and I think that’s all there is to it. We’ve seen it a million times,” Brown said