Bryce Mitchell and Dan Ige did a joint interview conducted by Michael Bisping after their exciting three-round bout during UFC Vegas 79. Mitchell, a believer in God, wanted to conduct a prayer involving everyone, however, he was seemingly stopped from doing so by Bisping.
Bisping treating Bryce Mitchell like a Jehovah Witness #UFCVegas79 pic.twitter.com/ggzKGkSTgQ
— .tayo (@KungFuTayo) September 24, 2023
Mitchell entered the Octagon for the first time in 2023 as he went up against Ige in a Featherweight bout at UFC Vegas 79 inside UFC Apex in Las Vegas, Nevada. After 15 minutes of fighting, Mitchell earned the win via a decision.
During their post-fight interview, Mitchell claimed he would donate money from his purse to the fire-stricken area of Hawaii. Along with that, he hoped that Ige would lead the UFC into prayer during the interview. However, Bisping stopped that from happening in an awkward manner.
About the incident, one fan wrote, “I know they have a time thing but to not allow a prayer is ridiculous. Not sure if that was @bisping or producers telling him but that shouldn’t have happened. If he doesn’t want to talk about the fight but Christ they should let him.”
Christ? Please don’t take the lord’s name in vain. https://t.co/mSlYagIh3A
— michael (@bisping) September 24, 2023
Bisping took to X to reply to the fan. He wrote, probably sarcastically, “Christ? Please don’t take the lord’s name in vain.”
Although Bisping stopped Mitchell from praying on the mic, the American Featherweight did kneel down along with Ige to conduct a short prayer. With this win, Mitchell has extended his professional MMA record to 16-2.
Michael Bisping is an atheist
Bisping’s awkward stoppage of prayer from Mitchell makes you wonder if he believes in God or not. Well, he has stated once on X that he is an atheist.
On the other hand, he has frequently talked about the topic. It started almost a decade ago when he fought Vitor Belfort in 2013, which turned out to be a life-changing bout. He had told Belfort that Jesus did not exist. Bisping’s right retina was detached from his socket due to a kick to the head by Vitor.
In an interview in 2019 with MMA Junkie, he said about the incident, “I said: ‘There is no Jesus. But maybe there is, because I ended up with a detached retina after that fight. Maybe that was God paying me back.”
On his Beyond You Me podcast, he was once heard slamming fighters who say everything is God’s plan. He was irritated by the fact that they did not give any credit to their opponents. He admitted that he does not believe in God but respects others who do. However, claiming everything as God’s plan did not sit well with him.
“Every time he [Nate Marquadt] loses, he has the arrogance to not say, Yeah, I was beaten by the better man,’ the arrogance to say, ‘It’s God’s plan, and this is God trying to teach me a lesson.’ Oh my God, I just can’t fathom the arrogance there. Rather than say, you know, the better guy got me on the night… ‘No, no. The better guy didn’t get me. This was God actually stepping in and teaching me a lesson through losing a UFC fight.”
Switch atheist for any type of bible basher and that’s accurate. We don’t preach at people mate. Totally the other way round. https://t.co/hKAHdIvI3C
— michael (@bisping) September 15, 2020
Once via a post on X, he indirectly admitted that he is an atheist. Bisping defended a joke about atheists claiming that they were not like what was being portrayed in the joke.