The bantamweight division arguably has become the best and deepest weight class in the sport over the past few years.
The Bellator bantamweight Grand Prix highlights the best fighters at 135 pound in the promotion. Friday’s tournament semifinals will be held. Patchy Mix, who faces Magomed Magomedov in one half of those semifinal matchups, believes Bellator has done an incredible job building the bantamweight division to the point where the promotion’s 135-pound talent equals that of the UFC.
” If I look at the bantamweight divisions in Bellator or the UFC I find that we are just as strong,” Mix stated to MMA Fighting. It’s as strong as any other division around the globe. You’d be able to win some fights if they were matched up, while losing others would result in defeat. It’s all very deep.
“Look at the names. Myself, [Juan] Archuleta, [Kyoji] Horiguchi, Sergio Pettis, Magomedov, if you look at even [Enrique] Barzola was successful in the UFC up a weight class.”
To be precise, Mix isn’t trying to incite any kind of unneeded rivalry. Instead, he’s standing up for Bellator, which he believes has just as much talent as their UFC counterparts. He trains regularly with some of the top fighters around 135 in the UFC. These include reigning champion Aljamain Sterling, and Merab Dvalishvili. All three are trained at Xtreme Couture Las Vegas.
While there remains no argument that the UFC is the biggest promotion in MMA, Bellator has worked tirelessly to build the bantamweight division through home grown talent and carefully curated additions through free agency. It has resulted in a vibrant bantamweight grand Prix that does not include Sergio Pettis who was forced out by injury.
Mix is certain that he can hang with anyone competing in the UFC. However, it’s more than just saying which bantamweight division is superior.
Instead, he just wants to give Bellator’s 135-pound division the credit it deserves.
“If you look at them both, it’s just that their names over there have been promoted so long and they just fight each other,” Mix explained. “Dominick Cruz, no offense, who hasn’t won fights except maybe I think he beat Casey Kenney, but he hasn’t won many fights in years. He doesn’t fall down on the list, but I think he would fight someone like me if he wanted to. Bellator seems to be just as deep .”
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Source: https://www.mmafighting.com/2022/12/9/23500645/patchy-mix-bellators-bantamweight-division-just-as-deep-as-ufc?rand=96749
