Former Champ Returns to Rizin After Being Cut from UFC
Patchy Mix (11-3) is no longer with the UFC and is now signed to face 19-year-old rising MMA star Kyoma Akimoto (11-1) at Rizin 52. Mix surprised everyone by coming out to be announced as a part of Rizin’s first show of 2026. Rizin 52 is set to take place at the Ariake Arena in […]
Patchy Mix (11-3) is no longer with the UFC and is now signed to face 19-year-old rising MMA star Kyoma Akimoto (11-1) at Rizin 52. Mix surprised everyone by coming out to be announced as a part of Rizin’s first show of 2026. Rizin 52 is set to take place at the Ariake Arena in Tokyo on March 6. Patchy Mix first fought for the promotion in 2019, defeating Yuki Motoya in the first round on their New Year’s Eve show.
Patchy Mix’s MMA Career
Patchy Mix started off his career in King of the Cage and was signed by Bellator in 2019. Mix quickly rose the ranks, only losing to then champion Juan Archuleta. He didn’t let the loss get to him as he would go on to go on a 7-fight win streak. He won the Bellator Grand Prix and the interim belt and then unified the belt after beating champion Sergio Pettis.
Mix then signed with the UFC with a lot of fanfare, but with unsuccessful results. Even though he was seen as the favorite to win, Mix lost to Mario Bautista. He then lost a close fight to Jakub Wiklacz, which a majority of media scored for Mix. 2025 continued to be a bad year for Patchy Mix when it was announced in October that he had failed a drug test in his win against Magomed Magomedov in 2024.
Manager Tells Patchy Mix He’s Going to be ‘Released’
At the RIZIN press conference yesterday to announce his fight, Mix explained his release. “After the last fight, waited about five, six weeks, and then told me I was going to be released,” Mix said. “I started searching and thinking what I wanted to do with my career. I beat a lot of guys in other organizations, even this organization, but the main thing was to go up to featherweight… I want to show a Patchy 2.0.”
Mix blamed his poor fight performances on the amount of weight he had to cut to get to 135. “I haven’t had fun in a long time because I’m just cutting so much weight to make the weight. So I think this transition is going to be important for my career.”
Mix added he has eyes on the featherweight champion, the undefeated Razhabali Shaydullaev, calling him “the final boss” of the division.
