The Bellator Bantamweight Grand Prix didn't exactly begin with a bang.

Reigning champion Sergio Pettis had to drop out due to injury, meaning that now the winner would only be interim champion. Even though they would take home the $1 million check and have to beat three top ranked guys to get there, the victor still wouldn't officially be the top guy.

However, company president Scott Coker likes to book these things with a thumb on the scale, focusing on potential storylines and drama rather than pure sporting competition, and on one side of the bracket, this played out perfectly.

Raufeon Stots beat former champion Juan Archuleta in the opening round and went on to face wildcard pick Danny Sabatello in the semi-finals, with the winner becoming the interim championship. The brash Stots and Sabatello, who patterns himself on 80s pro wrestlers, had an immediate chemistry and were sent on a nationwide promotional tour that brought plenty of attention to Bellator and the GP.

While the fight itself didn't live up to the hype, Stots getting a one-sided decision win and getting a belt around his waist at the very least confirmed he deserved his spot in the finals.

As for the opposing side of the bracket, things didn't go as planned.

Kyoji Horiguchi, a former multi-time flyweight and bantamweight champion from the respected Shooto and RIZIN FF promotions in Japan faced Patchy Mix in the quarterfinals. With a record of 15-1 – and the loss being against then-champion Archuleta – Mix was expected to lose to Horiguchi. Instead, he neutralized him and ground out a unanimous decision win, moving on to the semis and ruining a dream bout with Horiguchi and Magomedov.

Magomedov is a sambo expert and famous for being the only man to beat former UFC bantamweight champion Petr Yan in six years. Once again, the more famous fighter was expected to win. Once again, Mix surprised everyone and this time, it was even more decisive. No one has ever stopped Magomedov, but Mix choked him out in the second round.

This set up the final at Bellator 295 in Hawaii pitting Stots with Mix. Before it could even take place, Bellator announced champion Pettis would be returning from injury in June against Patricio Pitbull. Which is to say that the company doesn't really care about the winner of the Grand Prix, almost entirely because it's big mouth Stots versus the quietly confident underdog who had ruined two marquee matchups.

And Mix did it again – this time with a bullet.

Once the bell rang, southpaw Mix and orthodox Stots squared up. Both men did the correct thing; fighting someone of an opposing stance is dangerous and requires a patient approach, but after Stots bounced in and out a few times, Mix figured his timing, stepped forwards with a flying knee, caught him flush on the chin and knocked him out cold. The finish came so quickly, it wasn't even captured by the ringside photographer.

They say history doesn't repeat itself but it does rhyme: just over a decade ago, Daniel Cormier beat Jeff Monson to become the reserve for the Strikeforce Heavyweight Grand Prix. When Alistair Overeem got injured, Cormier stepped in and was instantly deemed the least favored contender – he went on to win it all, and then kept going, becoming one of the greatest of all time.

Now Patchy Mix is in that position. He's gone from being the tournament also-ran to having a million dollars in his bank account, a gold belt around his waist and a vicious highlight that will be played at every Bellator event from now on. And if he can beat the winner of Pettis vs. Pitbull, the sky is his limit.

[Header: Patchy Mix (R) embraces Raufeon Stots following their bantamweight Grand Prix final main event of Bellator 295 at the Neal S. Blaisdell Arena in Honolulu, Hawaii, U.S. on April 22, 2023. /Bellator MMA]