RIZIN has released Patchy Mix. The Japanese promotion pulled the former Bellator bantamweight champion off its current roster and voided his contract, according to the MMA outlet Dropkick, after Mix lost both of his fights under the RIZIN banner. Kevin K (@realkevink) spread the news on X Tuesday morning, a thread lit up on r/MMA, and BJPenn.com followed with a writeup later in the day.
The Spinnin Backfist account quote-posted the news with a skull emoji, which about covers how fast this has unraveled.
How we got here
Mix didn’t arrive in Japan as a project. At the peak of his Bellator title run he was in real pound-for-pound conversations, with a résumé that included wins over Sergio Pettis, Raufeon Stots and Kyoji Horiguchi. He won 19 of his first 20 pro fights and was widely considered one of the best fighters working outside the UFC.
View post on X
Then the slide started. Mix lost to Magomed Magomedov, signed with the UFC as a free agent, and dropped his debut at UFC 316 to Mario Bautista in a result that looked like a genuine shock at the time. His second Octagon appearance, at UFC 320, went to a split decision against Jakub Wiklacz, a short-notice replacement, and the judges gave it to Wiklacz. Mix and the UFC split after that, and he signed with RIZIN looking for a reset.
The reset never came. He lost twice in the RIZIN ring, one of them a TKO at RIZIN 52. His last win is still that Pettis fight at Bellator 301, which turned out to be his final bantamweight title defense. Count it up and that’s five straight losses for a guy who used to lose about once a decade.
What’s next
Nobody knows yet. BJPenn.com reported it’s unclear whether Mix might re-sign with RIZIN on a new deal or head into free agency. He’s 33. He also has plenty of work in the gym regardless, since he corners and coaches several of his Xtreme Couture teammates, UFC contender Tatiana Suarez among them.
My take
Five losses in a row is ugly on paper, and I won’t pretend the TKO at RIZIN 52 looked like a fighter who just needed a better matchup. Still, two of those five came against Bautista and a split decision with Wiklacz, and that’s a far cry from getting run over by nobodies. The bigger issue is that the Mix who strangled his way through Bellator’s bantamweight division hasn’t shown up in over two years, and RIZIN wasn’t going to keep paying a former champ’s rate while it waited for him. Somebody will sign him, because a 33-year-old with Horiguchi and Pettis on his record still sells tickets. My advice to whoever does it: give him a fight he can actually win, then see what’s left.
