It may come as quite the shock, given the success he found early in his career, but Patchy Mix wasn’t fully dedicated to MMA until roughly three fights ago.
Mix (18-1), Bellator’s interim bantamweight champion and grand prix winner, faces Sergio Pettis in a title unification bout this Friday in Chicago at Bellator 301.
Ahead of the fight, Mix told Cageside Press that “to be honest with you, I’m not really banged up going into this fight. I’m totally healthy. I’m ready to go, ready to rock on Friday night. Ready to go claim that world title. Weight’s on point, team’s here, we’ve been here in Chicago since Sunday. Ready to just go do the job.”
That’s a vast difference from how things played out ahead of his fight against James Gallagher in Dublin, Ireland just over two years ago. For that fight, Mix went it alone, heading to Dublin without any coaches. And he was not happy with his performance, despite securing a submission victory in the third round.
“When I missed weight against Gallagher, I didn’t really train for the fight. I went to Ireland alone without any coaches, I just went by myself because I’m a nut, I’m crazy like that. I missed weight, I went to fight him, ended up winning the fight,” Mix recalled. “And the kid was just so God-awful, it just made me feel like the fight was closer than it needed to be. I was so dog-tired in the fight. It was just my worst performance. I ended up winning, but you could see it in my eyes, the way I look, I don’t even look like the same person. I was really not happy outside of the cage. I took that money because I needed it, I needed to get paid, I needed to work.”
Upon his return from Ireland, Mix had to do a little self-analysis, and make the appropriate changes. Among them, linking up with Tatiana Suarez, and changing who he surrounded himself with.
“I used to just do MMA because I was f*cking good at it. I was not doing the right stuff. I was a 26-year old kid with a bunch of money in my bank account. Good at something, but didn’t know what I wanted to do in life. I was drinking a lot with my friends, going out with friends, always in bars and stuff for a couple years in my twenties,” revealed Mix. “Maybe like 25, 26. Right when I had fought for that title [against Juan Archuleta] and right before that, when I had got signed to Bellator.”
Mix dropped a unanimous decision to Archuleta in September 2020, for the then-vacant bantamweight title. It remains the only loss on his record.
“Getting away from that, I just had to grow up a little, mature a little, and now they see me fully dedicated. I’ve been fully dedicated, completely all in on MMA only for like three fights, and that was once they put me in the million dollar tournament. Before that, I would miss weight against James Gallagher, I was having a lot of stress outside in my life, just my day-to-day life. I had lot of mental health [issues], as a man, that I needed to get under control. And I did. And once I did, you see, I’m always in the gym now, I’m consistently training now, I’m fully dedicated now.”
Partner Tatiana Suarez has helped give Mix balance in his home life as well. Which has everything clicking heading into Bellator 301 in Chicago this Friday against Pettis. As for the fight, Mix wants to see if fellow champ Pettis can hang with him, especially on the ground.
“I want to see if he can handle my skills, I want to see if he can handle me on the floor. My pressure, my presence. I’m just excited to compete against him,” said Mix. “All I can promise is that I’m going to go out there and put on an exciting fight for everyone. One of the last— if it is the last Bellator show, I’m blowing the roof off this b*tch. They say it’s a ‘Windy City,’ and I’m here to blow his ass over.”
Watch our full interview with Bellator interim bantamweight champ Patchy Mix above.
