Patchy Mix joins Patricio Pitbull in asking for his release from Bellator due to inactivity

12/05/2024 10:00 AM

Patchy Mix wants out.

The reigning Bellator bantamweight champion is asking for his release from the organization due to inactivity with no real indication on when he might compete again.

He joins fellow Bellator champion Patricio Pitbull in the request after the Brazilian also asked for his release following a long layoff.

"My manager told me to hold off but haven't heard anything from PFL/Donn Davis," Mix wrote on Twitter. "If you are not gonna have me fight then just please release me from contract.

"This is not what I want but if I'm not important to the company being a multi time champ. Then let me go respectfully."

Mix was one of the first fighters to complain publicly about his inactivity after he fought back in May and was then scheduled to return to action in November but his card in Paris was eventually scrapped. At the time, PFL officials called it a postponement with all of the fighters expected to be booked on different cards in the near future.

Unfortunately none of that has happened after Mix complained that he was initially expected to return in January when the PFL holds a card in Dubai but then he wasn't included in those plans after both the main and co-main events were announced.

Mix, Pitbull and Bellator light heavyweight champion Corey Anderson all issued public statements about long periods of inactivity since the PFL bought out Bellator in late 2023. Following the purchase, the PFL opted to keep Bellator up and running as a separate organization with cards primarily scheduled overseas with events airing on the Max streaming service.

Troubles started after a planned event in London in September suddenly lost the main event with middleweight champion Johnny Eblen and his opponent Fabian Edwards pulled from the card with no explanation. The fight was eventually moved to the PFL: Battle of the Giants card in Saudi Arabia in October instead.

Then PFL pulled the plug on the Bellator Paris card in November where Mix was supposed to headline against opponent Leandro Higo.

MMA Fighting reached out to PFL for comment on the growing frustration from Bellator champions, who are now asking for a release from the promotion but did not receive a response as the time of publication.