Mitchell feels like he belongs in the bantamweight
division.
Mitchell (19-3) was originally scheduled to fight Victor
Henry at
UFC Fight Night 278 on Saturday. However, Henry was forced out
with an injury and replaced by a previously undefeated Santiago
Luna (8-1) on short notice. Mitchell dominated Luna on the
ground throughout the fight before securing an arm-triangle choke,
forcing Luna to tap with less than ten seconds left. While the
fight was not very fan-friendly apart from the finish, Mitchell
explained that he largely burned his arms out trying to control his
opponent. Mitchell remarked in a post-fight interview:
“I’m squeezing so hard with my arms the whole fight; it was
actually hard for me to elbow and punch him. Because you do that
with your hands too… When he moves, I finally get to punch, but I
don’t get to do very big punches because he is moving. So, you get
a heavy grappling match, an exhausting pace, with very little room
for error. He made a slight mistake, and I was able to capitalize
on it.”
Mitchell worked his way into the rankings before suffering his
first professional loss against future double-champ Ilia
Topuria in 2022. “Thug Nasty” then dropped two of his next four
and chose to drop to 135 pounds following his brutal knockout loss
to Jean
Silva last year. Mitchell has since won both outings in his new
division. Mitchell feels he is a natural bantamweight and is
thankful that he isn’t facing featherweights, who weigh a lot
heavier than him on fight night. Mitchell said:
“I think I’m just less undersized [at bantamweight]. I don’t think
that I’m the bigger guy in there. I just think that I’m used to
being the smaller guy, but now I’m just medium size. So, it makes
me look bigger. Thank God I’m not fighting guys that are 200
pounds. I’m a real ‘35er.”
“I’m really grateful, especially to get the
finish.”Bryce Mitchell (@ThugnastyMMA)
is feeling more and more comfortable as a bantamweight and was able
to secure the late submission win.
#UFCVegas118Complete Main Card Results ➡️ pic.twitter.com/8lJJgI38VL
— UFC News (@UFCNews)
June 7, 2026