Former Bellator bantamweight champ upset in UFC debut
There was so much focus on Patchy Mix all week that people may have forgotten that Mario Bautista has been knocking on the bantamweight elite door for a minute.
Saturday at UFC 316, Bautista (16-2 MMA, 10-2 UFC) made things look relatively easy with an upset of Mix (20-2 MMA, 0-1 UFC), a former Bellator champion who made his highly anticipated promotional debut at Prudential Center in Newark, N.J., as a betting favorite.
But Bautista cruised to a unanimous decision upset by outstriking Mix every round and won his eighth straight fight. The victory is on the heels of a decision win over former featherweight champion Jose Aldo.
Bautista took a pair of 30-27 scores from the judges and a 29-28 to upset Mix, whose fiancee, recent UFC women’s flyweight title challenger Tatiana Suarez, was in his corner.
Bautista opened with kicks and tried to pressure Mix toward the fence. After a Mix low kick, Bautista landed two big right hands and a couple more to the body. A couple minutes in, Bautista landed a few more solid rights, and it clearly was his round in the first half. Mix had a few connections in the latter half of the round, but Bautista caught him repeatedly with the right hand.
Mix in the game a little more in the second, but it was still more connections for Bautista than Mix. Bautista continued working to Mix’s body to keep him off sorts. Mix landed a right kick to the head for his best moment of the fight, but still headed to the last round at risk of his first loss in years.
Mix shot for a takedown early in the third, but it wasn’t close, and it became clear he was struggling to see out of his right eye. Bautista’s corner told him to get working toward that end, and it kept Mix in desperation mode. He once again got some momentum late, but never enough to truly threaten Bautista.
Up-to-the-minute UFC 316 results:
- Mario Bautista def. Patchy Mix via unanimous decision (29-28, 30-27, 30-27)
- Kevin Holland def. Vicente Luque via submission (D’Arce choke) – Round 2, 1:03
- Joshua Van def. Bruno Silva via TKO (strikes) – Round 3, 4:01
- Azamat Murzakanov def. Brendson Ribeiro via TKO (strikes) – Round 1, 3:25
- Waldo Cortes-Acosta vs. Serghei Spivac via unanimous decision (30-27, 29-28, 29-28)
- Andreas Gustafsson def. Khaos Williams via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-26, 30-26)
- Wang Cong def. Ariane da Silva via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)
- Joo Sang Yoo def. Jeka Saragih via knockout (punch) – Round 1, 0:28
- Quillan Salkilld def. Yanal Ashmouz via unanimous decision (30-27, 29-28, 29-28)
- MarQuel Mederos def. Mark Choinski via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 29-28)
