It’s been a crazy and eventful 2020 for Bellator MMA. The promotion has had some real high spots, but they were also hit really hard by the pandemic. Back in March of this year, Bellator had to shut down their production.
Unlike the UFC, it took Bellator a few months to put together a system to come back. After shutting down around the same time, it took Bellator until July to make their return.
However, despite the late start, Bellator accomplished some major things in 2020. Most notably, the promotion became the first major MMA promotion to host an event in France after MMA’s legalization.
Considering the pandemic that was going on, this was a major accomplishment for Bellator. In addition to that, the promotion moved over to CBS Sports Network which was another big step for the promotion.
Bellator being on a sports network is a really big deal for the promotion moving forward. On top of those things, the promotion has made some major signings this year which has deepened their talent pool.
All of this has happened while the promotion has also put on some great fights. There have been so many good matchups since Bellator returned back in July. However, there’s one fight to me that sticks out as the promotion’s fight of the year.
Bellator’s Fight of the Year in 2020
After going back through 2020 for Bellator, there is one fight that stands out to me as the clear fight of the year. That would be the matchup for the vacant bantamweight championship between Juan Archuleta (25-2) and Patchy Mx (13-1).
This fight had a ton of steam behind it leading into Bellator 246. Archuleta was known as one of the very best in the promotion, however, he wasn’t able to quite grasp a Bellator championship.
He lost a featherweight title fight last year to Patricio Pitbull and he had been passed over for a bantamweight title fight. However, he finally got his shot at Bellator 246. The undefeated Patchy Mix stood in his way.
Mix is a sensational grappler who had finished nine of his thirteen wins by submission. This fight promised to deliver, and in my opinion it did just that. Early on in the fight, Mix dominated with his superior grappling.
However, the veteran savvy of Archuleta paid dividends in this one. As the Bellator 246 main event went on, Mix really started to fade from a cardio perspective. After getting outgrappled early, Archuleta completely took over in the later rounds.
Ultimately, Archuleta walked away with unanimous decision victory and the title of bantamweight champion. A classic back-and-forth title fight in an exciting division proved to be the best fight for Bellator in 2020.