Check out the rundown for Saturday’s Bellator 246 main card, including the vacant bantamweight championship between Juan Archuleta and Patchy Mix, and two grapplers going at it in Jon Fitch vs. Neiman Gracie.
Bellator 246 is going down this Saturday (September 12th) and will be the second installment of the company’s doubleheader from the Mohegan Sun Arena in Uncasville, Connecticut. After RIZIN FF’s Kyoji Horiguchi won the bantamweight belt from Darrion Caldwell and took it back to Japan, the promotion was left with a gigantic void at the top of the 135-pound division. That empty slot will be filled in the Bellator 246 main event when the 24-2 Juan Archuleta throws down with the undefeated 13-0 Patchy Mix to crown a new champion.
After winning as many titles in as many weight classes as humanly possible on the regional scene, Archuleta took Bellator by storm to continue with his winning ways. He won his first four fights before knocking out former bantamweight champ Eduardo Dantas and getting a shot at Patricio Freire’s 145-pound belt in Bellator’s featherweight Grand Prix. Archuleta fell short against Pitbull, but got right back on track by taking a unanimous decision over the ever-scrappy Henry Corrales. Now dropping back down to 135-pounds, could this be Archuleta’s time to get a belt on the big stage?
Not if Patchy Mix has anything to say about it. The word ‘dangerous’ might be an understatement when talking about this guy. He’s downright lethal. He’s finished 9 of his 13 wins, all but one of them by way of submission. The repeat offenders in Patchy’s arsenal include kneebars, guillotines, and RNC’s, all of which he can hit in the third round just as easily as he can in the first round. The only real apparent knock is that he is rather untested at the highest level, but yet here he is in a major title fight. He does have solid wins over the likes of Tony Gravely and Ricky Bandejas, but has yet to experience the same championship caliber opposition that Archuleta has. Does that even matter? Well, we shall see on Saturday night.
The Bellator 246 co-main event of the evening is getting a welterweight scrap between two prolific grapplers in Jon Fitch and Neiman Gracie. The Purdue Boilermaker in Fitch molded his collegiate wrestling style for MMA and climbed all the way to a UFC title fight against Georges St. Pierre in 2008. Post-UFC the wrestler won himself a world title with the now defunct WSOF, before ultimately finding a home with Scott Coker in Bellator. Having not tasted defeat since 2014, and after drawing even with Rory MacDonald for Bellator gold in his last outing, the 42-year-old Fitch looks to improve his unbeaten streak to seven.
Hoping to put an end to said streak will be the 31-year-old submission ace Neiman Gracie. After his first-two professional bouts took place under the WSOF banner, Gracie came over to Bellator MMA and submitted his way right into the company’s welterweight Grand Prix. Choking out Ed Ruth advanced him in the tourney where he fell short in a title fight against the then champ, Rory MacDonald. Both of these men failed to capture the belt in their last outings, making this matchup pivotal in the future trajectory of their respective careers. Let’s just hope nothing 2020 happens and they grapple it out for our viewing pleasure.
Before that, MMA pioneer Liz Carmouche reunites with Scott Coker after a lengthy tenure with the UFC. Carmouche was involved in the UFC’s very first MMA match that they ever put on. She lost to Ronda Rousey by armbar way back in 2013, but had fought for Coker under the Strikeforce banner before that in 2011. In her last match, she failed to capture the UFC flyweight belt from Valentina Shevchenko, but now looks to move over to Bellator for the next chapter of her career.
Standing across from her will be fellow Bellator newcomer, DeAnna Bennett, who cut her teeth in the Invicta promotion. She was also seen on TUF Season 26 as well as competing in the Invicta FC: Phoenix Series 2 tournament. Perhaps a new start with a new promotion might be what Bennett needs to find some of that consistency that has been eluding her, but she will have to get through Carmouche first.
Opening up the Bellator 246 main card, the 20-10 promotional mainstay Derek Campos looks to return to the win column by besting the 8-0 undefeated Keoni Giggs. The always-violent Campos was booted from the seocnd round of Bellator’s featherweight GP thanks to an A.J. McKee arm triangle. Bouncing back is nothing new for Campos. He’s been around the block a time or two so expect business as usual from “The Stallion.” He was initially slated to face fellow veteran Roger Huerta, but instead is now fighting a much less experienced opponent in Keoni Giggs. He may lack experience inside of the cage, but Giggs seems to be able to do it all. He can stop you with leg kicks, or he might catch you in a kneebar. However you want it, you can get it… but how well will that hold up against someone as seasoned as a Derek Campos?
The Bellator 246 main card can be seen live on September 12, 2020 on the Paramount Network at 10:00 PM ET, with the prelims streaming online at 8:15 PM ET.
Main card:
- Juan Archuleta vs. Patchy Mix: Vacant Bantamweight Title
- Jon Fitch vs. Neiman Gracie: Welterweight
- Liz Carmouche vs. DeAnna Bennett: (W) Flyweight
- Derek Campos vs. Keoni Giggs: Lightweight
Prelims:
- Ty Gwerder vs. George Tokkos: Middleweight
- Davion Franklin vs. Ras Hylton: Heavyweight
- Daniel Madridvs. Pat Casey: Middleweight