Ed Mulholland-USA TODAY Sports
Bellator 232: “MacDonald vs. Lima 2” takes place inside Mohegan Sun Arena in Uncasville, Conn., this weekend (Sat., Oct. 26, 2019), featuring the Welterweight Grand Prix finale between Rory MacDonald (21-5-1) — who will defend his 170-pound title — against Douglas Lima (31-7) in an epic rematch.
Elsewhere on the DAZN-streamed main card, undefeated Bantamweight sensation “Patchy” Patrick Mix (11-0) will look to follow up his sterling Bellator 222 performance with another highlight-reel outing not far from his home turf. Mix had a promising amateur career until he gave it up for a full-time job, but the call of competition lured him back into mixed martial arts (MMA).
Mix recently chatted with MMAmania.com about his upcoming fight in Connecticut, as well as what lead him to Bellator MMA in the first place.
“I pretty much came to Bellator because it was the best offer on the table. My manager had a few different choices, but Bellator was by far the best offer I felt — especially being able to showcase my skills on a New York City card. I’m from New York and (was) also getting to fight a regional guy in Ricky Bandejas because I’m very familiar with him. So once I got that fight I signed the contract and I was really happy.”
Mix was also happy to win in just 66 seconds, marking the sixth consecutive fight he had finished before the final bell. It almost didn’t happen, though, as Mix had given up MMA to get into construction.
“I used to work for Veterans Roofing in home improvement, it’s one of the local businesses where I’m from. A lot of their workers are vets who were in the military themselves. My grandfather was in the military and he knew the owner so he got me in. I worked hard for a couple of years (but) I had to make a choice between pro fighting and the construction job that I had. I decided late, late after my amateur career that I was going to give this my all.”
The fact that MMA wasn’t legalized in New York until 2016 undoubtedly played a part in Mix having to make hard choices, but he says it was always his dream to do it for a living.
“At the time I wasn’t making really any money (in fighting) at all to be honest with you. It was just a desire to compete. I knew I was going to be a professional fighter and pro MMA really wasn’t legal in New York yet so I was really racking up these amateur wins. We knew that once I went pro I was really going to hit the ground running and that’s what my goal was. The money wasn’t the main focus for me. The main focus was to be able to compete and try to get my hands on world titles.”
With an unblemished record and a dominant win inside Madison Square Garden at Bellator 222, title fights are potentially on the horizon for Mix. Unfortunately at the time of this interview his scheduled bout with Dominic Mazzotta was in doubt for Bellator 232 as Mazzotta apparently withdrew from the fight.
“I just got wind that that I’m not fighting him and he pulled out, so I’m in the process of trying to find a different opponent at this point. I’m not sure if he got hurt or what. I just got the news over the weekend so I’m just getting ready and prepared as such.”
Although Bellator MMA was able to find a replacement opponent named Isaiah Chapman (7-3), Mix was confident in his ability to secure a win no matter who he’d have to face.
“Yeah yeah, I push man! That’s the thing — people think because I have finished a lot of people in the first round and I get the back a lot, they think that’s the best part of my game — but it’s really not. The best part about my game is that I have cardio and a (great) mindset. I break guys and I push through limits they can’t swim in. That’s the best part of my game and you know I’ve shown it in my previous fights, but I haven’t gotten to show it a lot because I have so many first round finishes.”
The mindset that Mix talks about includes his unapologetic desire to compete for and win a world title, something that he brought up multiple times in our interview.
“I like to fight in my weight class because it’s the title I’m chasing. I want to fight for the 135-pound belt. I want to fight the top people at this weight class. I’m just training as such.”
While Kyoji Horiguchi may have his eyes on Henry Cejudo, Mix has set his gaze firmly on Horiguchi and already sees opportunities he could exploit in a world title fight.
“I think Horiguchi’s tough, I think he had a good win over Caldwell (last time), I think it was a boring fight, but I think I match up well with him. I think that he sticks his head in the oven a little too much. You know he’s always reaching for the legs, and if he does that on me he’d be in big big big trouble. I think that I just pose a lot of threats for him in different areas that he’s been in and I think I’d dominate him on the ground. I’m a very very, very seasoned ground fighter and a lot of people don’t know that, but I think I have advantages in different places than a lot of other people. I think it’s my mindset, my will and my determination you know what I mean? I believe in myself more than anything in this world, so that’s a dangerous fight for him, especially coming off a loss in Rizin.”
While Horiguchi looks to avenge that loss on New Year’s Eve, Patrick Mix looks to stay in the mix at Bellator 232 and in the Bantamweight division as a whole.
Complete audio of our interview is embedded above, and complete coverage of Bellator 232: “MacDonald vs. Lima 2” resides here at MMA Mania all week long.
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