Ranked No. 2 in the strawweight division and 11–1 as a professional, Tatiana Suarez heads into UFC 327 on April 11 with real momentum behind her. A win over Amanda Lemos in 2025 helped her bounce back from her title fight loss to Weili Zhang at UFC 312. And now, against Loopy Godinez this Saturday, she has a chance to build another run towards the gold.
But while Suarez’s comeback story inside the cage has been well documented, there’s another storyline running alongside it, her relationship with fellow fighter Patchy Mix, whose own career has taken a very different turn recently. So how did this pairing come together, and what exactly led to Mix’s release from the promotion? Let’s break it down.
All we know about Tatiana Suarez and Patchy Mix’s relationship
Tatiana Suarez is happily in a relationship with Bantamweight MMA star Patrick ‘Patchy’ Mix. The couple is winning both in and out of the cage as they climb higher together. Both of them support each other through their career and personal endeavors, and guess what? Mix even proposed to her in 2024.
Their love story kicked off back in 2023, around the time Suarez defeated Montana De La Rosa in February 2023. Speaking to The MMA Hour, Suarez said Mix helped her get back into MMA after a four-year break.
“When I met him, I was bubbling around, it was right before the fight that I was supposed to have and I met him but nothing came out of that,” she revealed. “I had Pat and he’s supported me along the way.”
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Finally, after their first year of relationship, Mix proposed to her in front of the world-famous Eiffel Tower, and she said yes. She even uploaded a heartfelt moment on Instagram expressing her love for Mix.
The proposal was perfectly accompanied by French music, and the duo shared a delicate moment before Mix made a classic marriage proposal by getting down on one knee. As of now, there is no news of the couple having any children. However, Mix does have a daughter from a previous relationship. She was born in 2018. The couple often shares their moments on Instagram. Tatiana Suarez even shared a birthday post for Mix where she included his daughter as well.
But Patchy Mix, at least until recently, was trying to establish himself in the UFC after dominating in Bellator. And that’s where the story shifts.
Why was Patchy Mix released from the UFC?
The UFC signing Patchy Mix looked like a big move when it was announced. A former Bellator champion with wins over names like Sergio Pettis, Magomed Magomedov, and Kyoji Horiguchi, Mix came in with a reputation as one of the top bantamweights outside the UFC.
But the transition didn’t go as planned. Mix made his UFC debut in June 2025 at UFC 316. Instead of building momentum, he went 0–2, losing to Mario Bautista and Jakub Wiklacz. In a division as competitive as bantamweight, that kind of start is difficult to recover from, especially when expectations are high.
“After my last fight, I waited about five to six weeks, and then [my management] told me I was going to be released,” Mix said in a press event after signing with Japanese promotion, RIZIN. “I started searching and thinking about what I wanted to do with my career. The main thing was to go up to featherweight and rebrand. I want to show Patchy 2.0. I haven’t had fun in a long time because I’ve been cutting so much weight.”
And that’s what makes their story interesting. Two fighters, same gym, same support system, but very different trajectories at this moment, as Mix was finished brutally by Kyoma Akimoto in their clash at RIZIN 52.
