Mix brutally KOs Stots to win Bellator grand prix, interim title

Eight men entered the Bellator Bantamweight Grand Prix last year, and Patchy Mix won it all Saturday night with a Knockout of the Year candidate.

Mix finished Raufeon Stots at the 1:20 mark of the first round in the tournament final and the Bellator 295 main event in Honolulu. With the victory, Mix claimed the $1-million grand prize and the interim bantamweight title.

"People think I'm a ground guy," Mix said in his postfight interview. "I just knocked out 19-1 Raufeon Stots in a minute."

Mix is now set to unify the belts with the winner of the June 16 superfight between bantamweight champion Sergio Pettis and featherweight king Patricio "Pitbull" Freire. He said he plans to be cageside for that bout, which will co-headline Bellator 297 in Chicago.

The 29-year-old faced no adversity against Stots before getting the finish. Just over a minute into the fight, he stepped in with a picture-perfect knee that sent his opponent crashing to the canvas.

Mix had as tough of a road as anybody to get to the grand prix title. He upset former champion Kyoji Horiguchi by unanimous decision in the opening round and then submitted Magomed Magomedov in the semifinals.

Mix is now riding a five-fight winning streak. He hasn't lost since falling short to Juan Archuleta in a September 2020 vacant title bout. He holds a 5-1 record in Bellator and is 18-1 as a professional.

Stots suffered his first Bellator loss after starting his tenure with seven straight victories. He knocked out Archuleta to win the interim title in the quarterfinals and then defended the belt once against Danny Sabatello to reach the final against Mix.

This was just the second pro defeat of Stots' career. His first was a 15-second knockout against current UFC contender Merab Dvalishvili in 2017. Stots now sits at 19-2.