Patchy Mix won the Bellator Bantamweight World Grand Prix on Saturday night in Honolulu by defeating Raufeon Stots with a left knee to the chin. In the early moments of the fight, the fighters were on their feet as Stots, a two-time NCAA Division II wrestling champion, prevented grappling specialists from taking him to the canvas. But Mix, known for his ground game, surprised everyone by landing a left knee to Stots’ chin, dropping him flat on his back. The knockout came at 1 minute, 20 seconds of Round 1 and earned Mix two championship belts.
Mix’s Victory and Bonus
The victory over Stots puts Mix in line to challenge for the unified bantamweight title. However, the current champion, Sergio Pettis, has been out for 16 months with a torn ACL and is set to defend his title on June 16 against featherweight champ Patricio “Pitbull” Freire. Mix will face the winner. Mix also earned a $1 million bonus for winning the Bellator Bantamweight World Grand Prix.
Stots’ Defeat and Winning Streak
Stots’ defeat against Mix took away his interim bantamweight championship and ended his 11-fight winning streak. Despite being known for his wrestling, Stots was unable to prevent Mix from landing the stunning knee that ended the fight.
Bellator 295 and Scrapped Fights
Bellator 295 concluded a weekend of two fight cards for the promotion at Neal S. Blaisdell Arena. Two fights were scrapped after Ray Borg and Keoni Diggs missed weight on Friday. Bellator released both fighters, and Borg, who was scheduled to make his Bellator debut against former bantamweight champion Kyoji Horiguchi, later announced his retirement. Borg, who challenged Demetrious Johnson for the UFC flyweight belt in 2017, had a long history of weight-management issues, including missing weight four times in the UFC.
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