This past weekend at UFC Vegas 12, Bryce “Thug Nasty” Mitchell (14-0) took on Andre “Touchy” Fili (21-8) in the co-main event. It was a tough test for Mitchell who seems to becoming an increasingly popular figure in the UFC‘s featherweight division.
As expected, Fili proved to be one of the toughest tests of Mitchell’s career. Thug Nasty used his strong grappling to win rounds one and three decisively, but Fili had his moments which pushed Mitchell. Mitchell was not able to storm through Fili on the ground.
The takedowns were the key to the victory for Mitchell. However, his striking did look much improved on Saturday night. In fact, he actually won a lot of the striking exchanges. However, it was still his grappling that sealed with win at UFC Vegas 12.
After the fight, Mitchell revealed that he broke his left hand. He said he wasn’t sure how long he’d be out, but he did want to take a little time to recover. My guess is that it’ll be a few months before we see Thug Nasty back in a UFC cage.
What’s next after UFC Vegas 12?
Mitchell entered the cage Saturday night as the 15th ranked featherweight in the UFC. The win was his fifth with the promotion, and again, it was his toughest opponent yet. Mitchell will definitely need someone with a ranking for his next fight.
I think a fun matchup for the UFC could be a matchup with Ryan Hall. Hall is currently ranked 13th in the division and he’s a ground wizard himself. I mean he’s the only man in UFC history to submit Hall of Famer, BJ Penn.
Hall is looking for his next fight, and a matchup with Mitchell could be fun. If you love the ground game, this would be the fight for you. This might be one of the few UFC matchups where you could see Mitchell look to do more standing.
Another route the UFC could go is pairing him up with a guy like Shane Burgos. Burgos is just outside the top ten and he’s coming off of an incredible fight against Josh Emmett. This would be the more dangerous fight, but one that could lead to a big jump for Thug Nasty.