# Bryce Mitchell

Bryce Andrew Mitchell (born October 4, 1994) is an American professional mixed martial artist. He currently competes in the Featherweight division of the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC). Mitchell appeared in the reality television series The Ultimate Fighter: Undefeated. As of September 17, 2024, he is #13 in UFC featherweight rankings.

## Background

Mitchell was born in Texarkana, Arkansas, and raised in Cabot, Arkansas, where he attended Cabot High School. He played multiple sports, including basketball for the varsity team and wrestling, in which he placed second at the 7A state championships as a junior and fourth at the 6A state championships as a senior. After high school, Mitchell moved to Searcy, Arkansas, to attend Harding University.

## Mixed martial arts career
### Early career

After racking up an undefeated professional MMA record of 9–0, Mitchell was chosen to compete in The Ultimate Fighter: Undefeated Featherweight tournament. He defeated Jay Cucciniello in the quarterfinals but ended up losing to the eventual season winner Brad Katona in the semi-finals. Despite the loss, Mitchell was signed to the UFC.

### Ultimate Fighting Championship

Mitchell faced Tyler Diamond on July 6, 2018, at The Ultimate Fighter: Undefeated. He won the fight by majority decision.
Mitchell faced Bobby Moffett on March 23, 2019, at UFC Fight Night: Thompson vs. Pettis. He won the fight by unanimous decision. This fight earned the Fight of the Night award.
Mitchell faced Matt Sayles on December 7, 2019, at UFC on ESPN: Overeem vs. Rozenstruik. He won the fight by submission from a twister in the first round; this was only the second twister submission victory in UFC history. This win earned him the Performance of the Night award and it was named the 2019 Submission of the Year by sites like Sherdog, MMAJunkie and MMA Fighting. Subsequently, Mitchell signed a new, four-fight contract with the UFC.
Mitchell was scheduled to face Charles Rosa on May 2, 2020, at UFC Fight Night: Hermansson vs. Weidman. However, on April 9, Dana White, the president of UFC announced that this event was postponed and the bout took place on May 9, 2020, at UFC 249. After nearly submitting Rosa on numerous occasions, Mitchell won the fight via unanimous decision with the three scorecards listing 30–25, 30–25, and 30–24 scores.
Mitchell faced Andre Fili on October 31, 2020, at UFC Fight Night: Hall vs. Silva. This bout marked the first time a fighter has worn custom trunks since the Reebok deal with the promotion, as Mitchell used camo shorts during the contest. He won the fight by unanimous decision.
Mitchell faced Edson Barboza on March 5, 2022, at UFC 272. He won the fight via unanimous decision.
Mitchell was scheduled to face Movsar Evloev as a main event on November 5, 2022, at UFC Fight Night: Rodriguez vs. Lemos. However, Evloev withdrew in mid October due to injury and the bout was scrapped.
Mitchell faced Ilia Topuria on December 10, 2022, at UFC 282. He lost the fight via submission in round two.
Mitchell was scheduled to face Jonathan Pearce on May 6, 2023, at UFC 288. However, Pearce was forced to withdraw from the event due to injury, and was replaced by Movsar Evloev. In turn, Mitchell withdrew due to recurring back injury and was replaced by Diego Lopes.
Mitchell faced Dan Ige on September 23, 2023, at UFC Fight Night 228. He won the fight via unanimous decision.
Mitchell faced Josh Emmett, replacing injured Giga Chikadze, on December 16, 2023, at UFC 296. He lost the fight via knockout in the first round.
Mitchell faced Kron Gracie on December 7, 2024, at UFC 310. He won the fight by knockout via ground elbows in the third round, leading to his first knockout victory in MMA.
Mitchell is scheduled to face Jean Silva on April 12, 2025 at UFC 314.

## Grappling career

Mitchell was scheduled to face Ilay Barzilay at Pit Submission Series 12 on February 28, 2025. However, he withdrew from the match on a few days’ notice when he was offered an MMA fight.

## Personal life

Mitchell has a degree in economics from Harding University. Outside of his mixed martial arts career, he is a cattle farmer.
In 2021, Mitchell released a seven-track country rap mixtape titled "Pasture Fire".

## Controversies
### Conspiracies

Mitchell is a conspiracy theorist, voicing his belief that SARS-CoV-2 was created in a lab by the U.S. government and deliberately released, and that the U.S. government stages mass shootings to advance a gun confiscation agenda. He has also criticized the Federal Reserve as a "corrupt institution" that is manipulating the value of the U.S. dollar. He is also a flat Earther and believes that gravity is a hoax. In 2024, he indicated that he would homeschool his son because he did not want him to be a Communist, to worship Satan, or to be gay. In July 2024, Mitchell called Elon Musk a false prophet and potential antichrist, and his company Tesla a "scam".

### Hitler and denial of the Holocaust

In January 2025, he made several controversial statements, including praise for Adolf Hitler, denial of the Holocaust, and anti-LGBTQ remarks. He stated, "I honestly think that Hitler was a good guy based upon my own research, not my public education indoctrination" and further claimed, "When you realize there's no possible way they could've burned and cremated six million bodies, you're gonna realize the Holocaust ain't real". Additionally, Mitchell suggested that "greedy Jews" were "destroying his country and turning them all into gays" and referenced early gender-affirming surgeries in Germany as evidence of societal decline. Despite widespread condemnation—including from UFC president Dana White—White stated that Mitchell would not face disciplinary action from the UFC, citing free speech protections.

## Championships and accomplishments

* Ultimate Fighting Championship
** Performance of the Night (One time) vs. Matt Sayles
** Fight of the Night (One time) vs. Bobby Moffett
** UFC Honors Awards
*** 2019: Fan's Choice Submission of the Year Winner vs. Matt Sayles & President's Choice Performance of the Year Nominee vs. Matt Sayles
** UFC.com Awards
*** 2019: Submission of the Year vs. Matt Sayles
* CagesidePress.com
** 2019 Submission of the Year vs. Matt Sayles
* CombatPress.com
** 2019 Submission of the Year vs. Matt Sayles
* MMAJunkie.com
** 2019 December Submission of the Month vs. Matt Sayles
** 2019 Submission of the Year vs. Matt Sayles
* MMA Fighting
** 2019 Submission of the Year vs. Matt Sayles
* Sherdog.com
** 2019 Submission of the Year vs. Matt Sayles

## Mixed martial arts record

Professional record breakdown :
| 19 matches | 17 wins | 2 losses |
| By knockout | 1 | 1 |
| By submission | 9 | 1 |
| By decision | 7 | 0 |
| Res. | Record | Opponent | Method | Event | Date | Round | Time | Location | Notes |
| Win | 17–2 | Kron Gracie | KO (slam and elbows) | UFC 310 | December 7, 2024 | 3 | 0:39 | Las Vegas, Nevada, United States | |
| Loss | 16–2 | Josh Emmett | KO (punch) | UFC 296 | December 16, 2023 | 1 | 1:57 | Las Vegas, Nevada, United States | |
| Win | 16–1 | Dan Ige | Decision (unanimous) | UFC Fight Night: Fiziev vs. Gamrot | September 23, 2023 | 3 | 5:00 | Las Vegas, Nevada, United States | |
| Loss | 15–1 | Ilia Topuria | Submission (arm-triangle choke) | UFC 282 | December 10, 2022 | 2 | 3:10 | Las Vegas, Nevada, United States | |
| Win | 15–0 | Edson Barboza | Decision (unanimous) | UFC 272 | March 5, 2022 | 3 | 5:00 | Las Vegas, Nevada, United States | |
| Win | 14–0 | Andre Fili | Decision (unanimous) | UFC Fight Night: Hall vs. Silva | October 31, 2020 | 3 | 5:00 | Las Vegas, Nevada, United States | |
| Win | 13–0 | Charles Rosa | Decision (unanimous) | UFC 249 | May 9, 2020 | 3 | 5:00 | Jacksonville, Florida, United States | |
| Win | 12–0 | Matt Sayles | Submission (twister) | UFC on ESPN: Overeem vs. Rozenstruik | December 7, 2019 | 1 | 4:20 | Washington, D.C., United States | Catchweight (148.5 lb) bout; Sayles missed weight. Performance of the Night. |
| Win | 11–0 | Bobby Moffett | Decision (unanimous) | UFC Fight Night: Thompson vs. Pettis | March 23, 2019 | 3 | 5:00 | Nashville, Tennessee, United States | Fight of the Night. |
| Win | 10–0 | Tyler Diamond | Decision (majority) | The Ultimate Fighter: Undefeated Finale | July 6, 2018 | 3 | 5:00 | Las Vegas, Nevada, United States | |
| Win | 9–0 | Jose Mariscal | Decision (unanimous) | V3 Fights: Willis vs. Norwood | June 17, 2017 | 3 | 5:00 | Memphis, Tennessee, United States | Defended the V3 Fights Featherweight Championship. |
| Win | 8–0 | Isaac Ware | Submission (rear-naked choke) | V3 Fights: Mitchell vs. Ware | January 14, 2017 | 1 | 1:30 | Memphis, Tennessee, United States | Won the vacant V3 Fights Featherweight Championship. |
| Win | 7–0 | Brandon Phillips | Submission (triangle choke) | WSOF 33 | October 7, 2016 | 2 | 3:14 | Kansas City, Missouri, United States | Catchweight (151 lb) bout; Phillips missed weight. |
| Win | 6–0 | Bobby Taylor | Submission (triangle choke) | V3 Fights: Sanders vs. Anders | June 18, 2016 | 1 | 3:10 | Memphis, Tennessee, United States | |
| Win | 5–0 | Jorge Medina | Submission (rear-naked choke) | WSOF 27 | January 23, 2016 | 1 | 1:02 | Memphis, Tennessee, United States | |
| Win | 4–0 | Chris Culley | Submission (armbar) | V3 Fights: Hall vs. Shelton | September 26, 2015 | 1 | 3:39 | Memphis, Tennessee, United States | Catchweight (150 lb) bout. |
| Win | 3–0 | Tony Williams | Submission (rear-naked choke) | V3 Fights: Davis vs. Hall | June 20, 2015 | 1 | 4:31 | Memphis, Tennessee, United States | |
| Win | 2–0 | Jesse Sanderson | Submission (rear-naked choke) | RFA vs. Legacy FC 1 | May 8, 2015 | 1 | 2:09 | Robinsonville, Mississippi, United States | Featherweight debut. |
| Win | 1–0 | Sheldon Smith | Submission (rear-naked choke) | V3 Fights: Johnson vs. Kennedy | January 24, 2015 | 1 | 3:01 | Memphis, Tennessee, United States | Bantamweight debut. |

### Mixed martial arts exhibition record

| Exhibition record breakdown | Exhibition record breakdown | |
| 2 matches | 1 win | 1 loss |
| By submission | 0 | 1 |
| By decision | 1 | 0 |
| Res. | Record | Opponent | Method | Event | Date | Round | Time | Location | Notes |
| Loss | 1–1 | Brad Katona | Submission (rear-naked choke) | The Ultimate Fighter: Undefeated | Jun 20, 2018 (airdate) | 3 | 4:17 | Las Vegas, Nevada, United States | TUF 27 Semi-final round. |
| Win | 1–0 | Jay Cucciniello | Decision (unanimous) | The Ultimate Fighter: Undefeated | May 9, 2018 (airdate) | 2 | 5:00 | Las Vegas, Nevada, United States | TUF 27 Quarterfinal round. |