Saturday marks the 2023 octagon debut of UFC featherweight Bryce Mitchell. ‘Thug Nasty‘ will be looking to earn his first professional victory in 18 months, as he takes on fellow ranked opponent Dan Ige.
Dana White’s promotion returns to Las Vegas’ controversial ‘Apex’ venue once again this weekend. Millions of eyes will be fixed firmly on the card’s co-main event, which arrives prior to a headlining bout between Rafael Fiziev and Mateusz Gamrot.
UFC fans will certainly be pleased to see another non-PPV card stacked with talent throughout its entirety. The event acts as the second in a run of four Fight Night‘s, as we build up to UFC 294 on October 21.
For Mitchell, victory against Ige could prove to be crucial in his quest to re-climb the featherweight rankings. Here we look at the American’s career to-date, as well as how he could match up technically against Saturday’s opponent.
Career To-Date
Born and raised is southern state Arkansas, Bryce Mitchell has always been a proud, outspoken member of the community. The area is rich with professional MMA fighters, and ‘Thug Nasty‘ is certainly circling around the talent pool’s summit.
Throughout school, he was highly gifted in athletic ability. Mitchell competed competitively across sports such as basketball and wrestling, and began to make a name for himself regionally. He would earn top five placements in the latter’s state championships, where he competed against Arkansas’ elite.
These beginnings in wrestling would be fundamental for his future fighting style in mixed martial arts. Upon completing high school and earning a degree in economics at university, the Arkansan entered the MMA amateur scene. His overall record stood at 3-1, with all victories coming via way of submission and just one of his bouts reaching the second round.
2015 marked the start of Mitchell’s professional career. The American would enjoy an incredible first two-and-a-half years, putting together a record of 9-0 alongside seven first round submissions. His fame rose particularly on Tennessee promotion ‘V3 Fights’, where he gained and defended the featherweight title.
This would earn Mitchell a life-altering spot on The Ultimate Fighter: Undefeated, a competition solely for feather and lightweights with unblemished records. Under the guidance of team coach Daniel Cormier, he achieved a quarterfinal decision victory over Jay Cucciniello. Unfortunately for ‘Thug Nasty‘, he ended up losing to eventual season winner Brad Katona in the semi-finals via submission. This loss would not deter Dana White, however, who still signed the wrestling specialist to the UFC.
Over his five years within the promotion, Mitchell’s resume contains a number of impressive wins. Decision victories against Edson Barboza, Andre Fili and Charles Rosa compliment a twister submission over Matt Sayles – the second of its time.
The 28-year-old has undergone a difficult period in the last year-and-a-half. A second round submission loss at the hands of frightening contender Ilia Topuria has spelled his sole-octagon appearance since Barboza. Two cancelled bouts against Movsar Evloev and Jonathan Pearce mean that Saturday’s clash will be Mitchell’s first this year.
Bryce Mitchell Fighting Style
‘Thug Nasty‘, as previously mentioned, is a strong grappler and bases his game upon an aggressive wrestling style.
Across Mitchell’s 15 career wins, nine have come via submission with many of his decision wins being earned with plenty of control time. He lands the highest amount of average takedowns within the featherweight rankings, earning 3.26 every 15 minutes (TD Avg), compared to Topuria (2.19), Ige (1.15), Arnold Allen (1.12) and Brian Ortega (0.95).
An ability to change levels with fluidity has made the Arkansan an extremely dangerous opponent to share the octagon with. Once on the canvas, Mitchell has the temperament to land series’ of brutal ground-and-pound strikes from top and side positions.
Five wins via rear-naked choke show the dangers the 28-year-old possesses should he take his opponent’s back. Similarly with top game, from which he has earned a further duo of triangle submissions.
Mitchell’s defence has also gone underrated within the featherweight division. The American absorbs just 1.71 significant strikes on average per minute (SApM), bettering elite members in Alexander Volkanovski (3.36), Max Holloway (4.75), Ortega (6.66) and Topuria (3.05).
Upcoming Fight vs. Dan Ige
UFC Vegas 79’s co-main event sees the featherweight division’s #10 and #12 ranked fighters go head-to-head. Ige remains one of the most active fighters at 145 lbs, a matchmaker’s dream who is consistently ready to enter the octagon despite previous results.
Mitchell will act as ‘50k‘s eighth fight in three years. The 32-year-old is looking to rebuild his career following a three fight losing streak to The Korean Zombie, Josh Emmett and Movsar Evloev between 2021-22. Ige comes into the contest off the back of a duo of successive victories against Damon Jackson and Nate Landwehr via TKO and decision respectively.
Mitchell’s fellow countryman is yet to be finished in his professional career. Ige has a fairly average takedown defence (56%), however, so this will certainly be an area that ‘Thug Nasty‘ will looking to exploit once again.
A win for Mitchell would put him back-on-track for top featherweight contention. His ranking may not be affected, but it would certainly act as a recent change of fortunes. It will be intriguing to see whether inactivity and back issues have affected the Arkansan’s overall output coming into Saturday.
Saturday’s preliminary action begins at 11p.m. for UK-based fans, with the main card kicking off at 2a.m. MMA enthusiasts can look foward to Mitchell’s octagon return against Ige in the co-main event.
Do you think Bryce Mitchell will beat Dan Ige at UFC Vegas 79? Can he become a top contender in the featherweight division? Let us know in the comments below!
Featured image credits to Embed from Getty Images
