UFC contender Bryce Mitchell suffered a quick defeat on Friday in his return to competition, less than two months after his last UFC fight. Known for his grappling and memorable twister submission against Matt Sayles in 2019, Mitchell was outmatched on the mats against 19-year-old BJJ prospect Landon Elmore.
Mitchell, 30, competed in the Eddie Bravo Invitational 25 lightweight tournament in San Antonio, Texas, on September 12. After a quarterfinal win against JJ Bowers, he faced Elmore in the semifinals. Less than a minute into the bout, Elmore forced Mitchell to submit to a leg lock following a reset after Mitchell carried Elmore out of bounds during a flying triangle choke attempt. Elmore went on to win the tournament.
Despite the setback, Mitchell plans to continue competing in grappling outside the UFC Octagon. He remains confident about his MMA future, targeting the bantamweight division and believing he is the only fighter capable of challenging champion Merab Dvalishvili.
“(The bantamweight division) just needs somebody like me in there to shake things up, and I can almost promise you I’m going to shake things up,” Mitchell told MMA Junkie. “They need something exciting right now because let’s be honest: Nobody’s going to beat Merab… I’ve got the only resume that can even possibly compete with him.”
Following this grappling loss, Mitchell is expected to refocus on the cage and continue his pursuit of the bantamweight title.
