While the UFC may not support the crazy stuff that Bryce Mitchell says, they are willing to keep the controversial submission specialist busy.
Mitchell was last seen at UFC 314 in April when he was choked out by Jean Silva — a bit of matchmaking many saw as punishment for a podcast tirade where the Arkansas native said he supported Hitler.
The UFC future of “Thug Nasty” has been in doubt since then. Bryce is 2-3 over his last five fights, and his shtick went from wacky ‘world is flat,’ ‘seatbelts are dumb’ soundbites to regular white power dog whistles. With the UFC in the middle of negotiating a multi-billion dollar media rights deal, did they want to stay in business with Mitchell given the headlines and headaches he could bring?
The answer seems to be yes.
Red Corner MMA reports that Bryce Mitchell will be making his bantamweight debut on the UFC on ABC: Whittaker vs. de Ridder event in Abu Dhabi on July 26th. His opponent: Said Nurmagomedov, who is known more over recent years for withdrawing from multiple bouts than his actual prowess when he manages to get into the cage.
When Nurmagomedov finally did return after a year and a half hiatus, he lost to Vinicius Oliveira via decision. Will he be able to right the ship against Mitchell?
First we’ll have to confirm that Mitchell has actually agreed to drop a weight class and fight him. Red Corner MMA is an extremely reliable outlet, but their sources are likely from Nurmagomedov’s side. While we have no doubt the UFC has put this bout forward to Said, we’ll wait for confirmation from Bryce’s side of things before we can confirm it 100%.
That being said, who ya got?
