This past Saturday at UFC Abu Dhabi, a former top featherweight contender made his bantamweight debut. “Thug Nasty” Bryce Mitchell (18-3) made the walk in Abu Dhabi to take on Russia’s Said Nurmagomedov (18-5).
Mitchell was coming off his really tough loss to Jean Silva back in April and after that loss, he decided that he wanted to drop down to 135 pounds. In my opinion, a guy like Nurmagomedov was the perfect first fight to see how Mitchell would do in the new weight class.
Mitchell started well in the first round but then he got hurt really badly with a big knee and Nurmagomedov nearly finished the fight. Mitchell was able to recover and make it to the second round. Following that knee in the first round from Nurmagomedov, the story of the fight was the wrestling and control of Bryce Mitchell.
Mitchell was able to land takedowns and secure a ton of control time in the final two rounds to earn a unanimous 29-28 decision at UFC Abu Dhabi.
What’s next after UFC Abu Dhabi?
Given his name value, I wouldn’t be surprised to see Mitchell take on someone in the rankings in his next fight. I think the Nurmagomedov win is a really good way to get your foot in the door and if Mitchell isn’t fighting someone in the top fifteen next, he’ll be fighting someone knocking on the door.
You have to remember, Bryce Mitchell was 15-0 as he made the walk at UFC 282 back in December 2022. His first professional loss came to the best fighter in the world, Ilia Topuria. His second loss came via knockout to Josh Emmett who knocks out almost everyone he hits clean and then he lost to Jean Silva who could find himself in title contention should he win his next fight.
Mitchell holds wins over the likes of Edson Barboza, Dan Ige, and now Said Nurmagomedov. I think he’s a welcomed addition to 135 and I’m intrigued by what the UFC will do with him next and there are some options. One name you could look at is Marcus McGhee who lost it the co-main event to Petr Yan.
McGhee dropped one spot to 13 in the rankings but prior to the loss to Yan, he had won all four fights inside the octagon. Kyler Phillips could be another name to watch for Bryce Mitchell. An interesting one could be Patchy Mix. Mix is the former Bellator champion and was considered one of the best bantamweights in the world. However, he looked awful in his debut against Mario Bautista.
He’s not in the rankings because of that performance and I think it could make sense to pair him with Mitchell.
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