Bellator MMA is going to be filling a championship vacancy in one of their divisions. Per ESPN’s Brett Okamoto, Juan Archuleta (24-2) and Patrick Mix (13-0) will be going head-to-head for the vacant bantamweight title on September 12th.
Bellator already has their first contender lined up for the winner of this fight in Sergio Pettis. Pettis won the main event of Bellator 242 which was the promotion’s first card back from their extended break due to COVID-19.
Breaking: Bellator MMA's vacant bantamweight title will be up for grabs in September. Juan Archuleta (@jarchmma) vs. Patrick Mix (@TeamMixMMA) agreed to for a Sept. 12 event. Interesting matchup at 135, with Sergio Pettis perhaps on deck for the winner.
— Brett Okamoto (@bokamotoESPN) August 19, 2020
Who will be the Bellator Champ?
Archuleta will be dropping back down to 135 pounds for this title fight. Archuleta had been competing in Bellator‘s featherweight division in his last couple of fights which included a title fight with Patricio Pitbull.
In that fight, Archuleta lost a decision. Outside of that, nobody has beaten Archuleta inside the Bellator cage. Archuleta is 6-1 in the promotion with wins over guys like Henry Corrales and Ricky Bandejas.
The undefeated Patrick Mix stands in Archuleta’s way of getting the bantamweight title. Mix will be making the walk for the first time in 2020 when he steps in the cage on September 12th. Mix has only fought twice in Bellator, but he’s looked dominant in both fights.
In those two fights, Mix submitted Ricky Bandejas and Isaiah Chapman in the first round. Currently, Mix has finished his last four fights in the first round. Overall, Mix is on an eight fight finish streak.
This is a very exciting matchup between two of the very best that Bellator has to offer. Both fighters come into this contest with a ton of momentum behind them. I’m very interested to see how this plays out.
I want to see if Mix is able to keep his finish streak alive against a guy like Juan Archuleta. I’ll definitely be looking forward to the matchup between the winner and Sergio Pettis.