Bellator 246 - Juan Archuleta pieces up Patchy Mix to win the Bellator Bantamweight title
Bellator now has a new Bantamweight Champion. That man is Juan "The Spaniard" Archuleta. Not only is he now on a two-fight win streak, but he gave Patchy Mix is first-ever MMA loss. And Juan Archuleta is also the first person to take rounds from Mix (rounds 3, 4, and 5).
The game plans were quite simple. Mix wanted to end the fight as fast as possible, whereas Juan Archuleta looked to take the undefeated 27-year old into deep waters.
Juan Archuleta crowned Bellator Bantamweight Champion
Archuleta survived early trouble in the form of takedowns and submission attempts from the JacksonWink product. Mix pressured Archuleta, thanks to the latter overextending on his strike attempts. Then a seismic shift happened. Juan started to light up Patchy's body. He ripped him with hooks from every angle. And got even on the ground with ground and pound. By the third round, it was noticeable that the wind was taken out of Mix's sails. He started sucking in the air open-mouthed and moved slower.
Patchy still came forward by that was an easy target for Juan to piece up. Instead of cutting off the cage Mix started chasing Archuleta who was on his bike. And the frustration really started to show on the younger fighters face. The ground and pound from Juan were definitely paying dividends as well now too.
Juan wound up getting accidentally poked in the eye, but referee Jason Herzog said he didn't see anything and continue the fight. As the horn sounded ending the 4th round Archuleta told Herzog "he was poked and his eye is f***ed".
For the 5th round, the assault to Mix's body continued, and when he'd lower his hands, Juan would go over the top. Archuleta pressured a clinch along the fence which took the last of Patchy's energy. In the clear unanimous decision the cards were 49-46, and two that read 48-47. While all that bodywork helped secure 129-87 punches landed stat in favor of Juan Archuleta.
Afterward, Juan Archuleta thanked his family, Scott Coker, and all of his teammates but especially Cub Swanson.