One of MMA’s most enthralling personalities, Bryce ‘Thug Nasty’ Mitchell, returns to action this weekend at UFC 310, one whole year after being viciously knocked out by Josh Emmett at UFC 296.
Ahead of his long-awaited return to the octagon, ‘Thug Nasty’ has claimed that he’ll be ‘redeemed’ when he gets back in the win column – although that feeling will quickly dissipate once his hand is raised.
Bryce Mitchell previews his return to action at UFC 310 after 12-month layoff
Bryce Mitchell was knocked out so badly in his last fight that he was left seizing on the canvas, but after a full 12 months of rest and recovery, the UFC featherweight hopes to turn a corner in Las Vegas this weekend.
“I have trained a lot harder, and I have a sense of gratefulness and urgency,” Mitchell told the UFC News crew earlier this week, revealing how victory at UFC 310 will leave him with mixed emotions.
“It’s going to feel great to get a win; I’m going to feel like I’m redeemed… But I’m not going to be satisfied because I’m just gonna want to keep winning because I feel like I have a lot of work to do and a little bit of time to do it.”
Recovering from such a brutal knockout has been incredibly tough, but Mitchell has found solace and comfort from his expanding family, having welcomed a baby boy (and a new truck) into the world earlier this year.
“I have a son now, he’s seven months old, that’s the best part… I built a house; I don’t live in my little crappy trailer no more, [and] the house is a lot warmer in the winter. I just got a new truck yesterday… A 1977 Ford, I’m just really, really happy about literally everything that’s been going on.”
The Arkansas native admitted that the past 12 months have been “the largest period of growth” that he’s ever experienced in the sport and is grateful to have spent so much time out of the spotlight.
“From [my] last fight to this fight, being that it was a whole year, and I really wasn’t injured. For about a month I didn’t train very hard after that fight because I got hit pretty hard, but after about a month I went back to training really hard, and I think it was time that I needed.”
Mitchell will take on Brazilian submission specialist Kron Gracie on the main card of UFC 310 this coming weekend; whilst that’s certainly not an easy return bout, it’s certainly the easiest fight that Mitchell has had in the past few years.
“I think he’s very tough, I think he’s very durable, and I don’t take him lightly,” stated ‘Thug Nasty’ on his incoming opponent.
“I just want to fight him. I don’t care where the fight goes, I’m gonna be like water and take the path of least resistance.”
UFC 310 goes down from the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas on Saturday, December 7.