UFC 316 has one of the most expected Octagon debut in a while when Patchy Mix takes the walk for the first time.
The former Bellator champion has long been considered one of the very best talents outside the UFC before he was signed during the promotion last month.
When Marlon Vera withdrew from UFC 316, Mix stepped in to see the #10-ranged Mario Bautista with the two men who exchanged reactions prior to June 7.
There are high expectations for the new Bantam weight candidate with Mix himself who believes that he can cause problems with Merab Dvalishvili, who will defend his 135 pound title in the main event.
A UFC legend went so far that he ranked the new arrival above Sean O'Malley, who wants to recover the belt in his rematch with Dvalishvili before Mix even got into the Octagon.
Photo by Ed Mulholland/Zuffa LLC
Frankie Edgar explains his decision to rank a fragmentary mix higher than Sean O'Malley at Bantamweight
During the morning roads of the UFC, former UFC Lightweight Champion Frankie Edgar came to the Panel of Daniel Cormier and Laura Sanko to view an example of UFC 316.
The conversation eventually landed on Patchy Mix's debut, where the three analysts had the task of placing the former Bellator star in the UFC rankings based on what they have seen in the past.
Cormier and Sanko had very similar lists, with Mix only one place in their ranking after Cormier had arranged it at #6, while Sanko had him one higher at #5.
'DC' made the argument for the reason why Song Yadong, in his opinion, deserves to be in the top five, but the rankings of Edgar were considerably different.
He placed Mix in the #4 place, with only Cory Sandhagen, Petr Yan, Umar Nurmagomedov and the champion Merab Dvalishvili for him.
Edgar further explained why he has a mix higher than former champion Sean O'Malley, who has not fought since he lost the title of Dvalishvili last September.
“Listen, this is not a knock on him because I certainly think O'Malley also has a good chance of winning this weekend, and he could beat one of these guys and he defeated some of them. But I don't think he defeated Petr Yan.”
Patchy Mix comes for a good reason for high expectations in the UFC
With a record of 20-1 with 15 finishes, it doesn't take long to realize where the hype comes from the UFC debut of Patchy Mix.
Mario Bautista is perhaps an opponent overlooked, and he certainly has the opportunity to spoil this debut, but you just have to look at the recent series of results from Mix to see why people are so high for him.
The last five fights of the 31-year-old have all been against opponents with incredibly impressive performances and he was able to guarantee the finish in three of the five outings.
Opponentrececordeventrentenmagomed Magomedov20-3bellator Champions Series: Parissplit Decisionsersergio Pettis23-5bellator 301submission-Round 2raufeon Stots19-1bellator 295knockout-Round-Ugomed 2bound19-2bond19-roundov19-roundov19-roundov19-roundov19-roundov19-2bond- Horiguchi2ji horiguchi2ji horiguchi2ji horiguchie 279 unanimous decision
If Mix is able to run the ground with a great achievement on UFC 316, he may just be one fight away from a title shot, especially if this means that he means locking with his former training partner, Merab Dvalishvili.