In a remarkable demonstration of elite grappling skills, top featherweight prospect Bryce Mitchell overcame an devastating eye injury to achieve a commanding victory over Dan Ige in the co-main event of UFC Fight Night 228 in Las Vegas this weekend.
Despite enduring numerous cuts and severe swelling around his eye, which significantly seemed to have affected his vision, Mitchell relentlessly pursued takedowns and ultimately dominated Ige on the ground for a good amount of time throughout the fight. The judges unanimously scored the bout in favor of Mitchell, with scores of 30-27, 29-28, and 29-28.
However, his antics inside the Octagon after the fight sure overshadowed his dominant win as Mitchell resorted to a prayer on the microphone in his post fight interview. Former UFC middleweight champion and commentator Michael Bisping then stopped Mitchell midway by pulling the microphone away. MMA fans criticized this act of the UFC legend, saying they felt he should have let Mitchell do his thing.
You’re a smart man will. https://t.co/uXctU6BSYc
— michael (@bisping) September 24, 2023
However, it seems like Bisping has finally responded to all the criticism coming his way, as he has in a way admitted that it was not his personal decision to stop Mitchell from praying inside the octagon. A fan on X wrote, “I’d assume @bisping has the producers in his earpiece telling him Bryce’s mic time is over”. To this, the British UFC veteran replied, “You’re a smart man, will.”
This is not the first time that Mitchell surprised everyone by doing something that was unheard of. The fighter recently refused to believe the human evolution theory in Michael Bisping’s podcast and called it a ‘lie from Satan’.
Bryce Mitchell brings the Bible inside the Octagon and kneels down for prayer
This win improved Mitchell’s UFC record to 7-1, with his sole loss coming to highly-ranked featherweight contender Ilia Topuria in his previous fight. Meanwhile, Ige’s two-fight winning streak was halted by Mitchell’s decision victory at UFC Vegas 79.
After securing the win, Mitchell declared his generous intention to contribute $5,000 to aid the victims of the recent Maui wildfires in Ige’s homeland of Hawaii. Fans loved this genuine gesture from the featherweight fighter. Additionally, he extended an invitation to his opponent to join him in prayer.
Bryce Mitchell wins a close fight, donates $5,000 to Hawaii, says he thinks Satan is taking over the Earth & says he doesn’t think the fires were natural pic.twitter.com/qLqZbO2koO
— An0maly (@LegendaryEnergy) September 24, 2023
‘Thug Nasty’ knelt down in prayer. Ige, who was beside his opponent, did not know how to react to this and quickly knelt down beside Mitchell in an awkward manner. Known to be a big believer in conspiracy theories, Bryce also expressed that he does not think these fires were natural and added that he feels like Satan is taking over the earth.