Bryce Mitchell will return at UFC 288 on May 6 after losing to Illya Topuria at UFC 282 last year.
Mitchell hinted at early retirement after his unblemished record was compromised at UFC 282. However, he dismissed these claims, saying that he was not thinking straight after the bout. These claims are now water under the bridge as Mitchell has confirmed that he will be returning to action later this year.
The 28-year-old took to Twitter to announce that he will fight Jonathan Pearce at the UFC 288 pay-per-view event. Bryce Mitchell wrote: “Back on May 6th.”
He also confirmed that the bout deal has been signed: “Bout agreement signed!”
Pierce was invited to Dana White’s Contender Series on July 9, 2019. He fought Jacob Rosales and won by TKO in the third round, earning a coveted UFC contract. In his first fight under the UFC banner, Pearce lost to UFC veteran Joe Lauzon via TKO. Since then, he has been on an impressive five-fight win streak with three wins.
Bryce Mitchell is determined to get back to winning ways after suffering the first and only loss of his MMA career. His record currently stands at 15-1 with nine submission wins.
What did Bryce Mitchell say after his submission loss to Ilya Topuria at UFC 282?
At UFC 282, Bryce Mitchell suffered a second-round submission loss to Illya Topuria. Mitchell hinted at an early retirement after marrying Topuria’s otherwise unblemished record. However, he dismissed these allegations by claiming that he was not thinking straight after the fight.
Mitchell said in a recent interview with Brett Okamoto of ESPN MMA that he accepted the fight with Ilya Topuria despite having the flu. He said he was forced to accept the bout considering he only had “a few thousand rupees” in his bank account:
“I had a few thousand bucks in my bank account, and [UFC] told me that, ‘If you don’t take this fight, we won’t be able to find you until February.’ They said they were booked. So, it’s like Like you can survive on a few thousand rupees in your bank, or you can fight on December 10. And if not, then go to hell till February.”
Speaking about what he might have done differently in the fight against Topuria, he said: “I probably wouldn’t have even shot a takedown, but at this point, I wasn’t accepting what I was capable of. … If I had tweaked my strategy, I know I could have done better. I probably could have gone all three rounds. But I really pushed myself by shooting a lot of takedowns and other things like that. Filled with gas.