5 Things You Might Not Know About Patrick Mix

While Patrick Mix closes in on another shot at the Bellator MMA bantamweight championship, one of the sport’s most polarizing prospects stands in his way.

“Patchy” will put his 14-1 record on the line when he confronts divisive SBG Ireland standout James Gallagher in the Bellator 270 co-headliner on Friday at 3Arena in Dublin. Mix enters the cage as a significant favorite, having recorded three wins in his first four appearances—his only setback resulted from a unanimous decision loss to Juan Archuleta in a failed bid to capture the vacant bantamweight title in 2020—with the Scott Coker-led promotion. He last competed at Bellator 258, where he submitted Albert Morales with an arm-triangle choke in the third round of their May 7 pairing.

As Mix makes final preparations for his showdown with the once-beaten Gallagher, here are five things you might not know about him:

1. He rubbed figurative shoulders with college basketball royalty.

Mix hails from Angola, New York—a small village of roughly 2,000 people located some 20 miles east of Buffalo. He shares a hometown with Christian Laettner, a two-time national player of the year and onetime Wooden Award winner who led the Duke University men’s basketball team to two national championships (1991-92) and went on to enjoy a productive 15-year career in the NBA with the Minnesota Timberwolves, Atlanta Hawks, Detroit Pistons, Dallas Mavericks, Washington Wizards and Miami Heat.

2. Half nelsons, ankle picks and fireman’s carries shaped his base.

The Angola, New York, native, graduated from Lakeshore High School, where he became the school’s first state qualifier in more than four decades. The experience paved Mix’s way to Brazilian jiu-jitsu and ultimately his entry into mixed martial arts.

3. Success on the regional scene fueled his rise.

Mix remains one of only three King of the Cage bantamweight champions to successfully defend the title on more than one occasion. Abel Cullum and Frankie Saenz are the others. Mix laid claim to the promotion’s bantamweight crown when he submitted Andre Ewell with a rear-naked choke on Nov. 18, 2017, then retained it in subsequent appearances against Tony Gravely and Keith Richardson. He was stripped of the title upon signing with Bellator.

4. He targets blood flow.

The former King of the Cage champion has delivered 10 of his 14 career victories by submission. Eight of them—five rear-naked chokes, two guillotines and two arm-triangles—have involved the neck. The two exceptions: He put away Richardson with a kneebar at KOTC “In the Mix” on Nov. 10, 2018 and did the same to Isaiah Chapman at Bellator 232 on Oct. 26, 2019.

5. He chose proven training grounds.

Mix once operated out of the star-studded Jackson-Wink MMA academy but recently put down roots at Xtreme Couture in Las Vegas, where he has honed his world-class skills alongside a number of accomplished stablemates, including reigning Ultimate Fighting Championship heavyweight titleholder Francis Ngannou.