Bryce Mitchell was convinced he was chosen by God to beat Jean Silva at UFC 314.
Well, the #13 UFC Featherweight contender was met with a different fate altogether on Saturday night, competing on the action-packed main card of UFC 314 from Miami.
A thriller in the main event between Alexander Volkanovski and Diego Lopes, a fight that got a lot of love this week was unranked Jean Silva getting a shot at ranked competition with Bryce Mitchell whose only pro losses are to Ilia Topuria and Josh Emmett.
Mitchell was very vocal with his battles with ‘demons’ in the lead-up to this fight, unenthused with the barking Silva (yes, he barks at his opponents), vowing to put the top-dog prospect down on Saturday night.
What we got was a clinical performance on the ground and surprisingly not from the great grappler we saw hold down legendary striker Edson Barboza down longer than Khabib Nurmagomedov… No, it was Jean Silva’s time to shine.
The Fighting Nerds Star submitted Mitchell with a ninja choke in the second round after having some success on the feet. Mitchell tapped out, though, a tad too late as the American laid unconscious on the canvas with Silva barking at him in celebration.
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Bryce Mitchell says he ‘nothing left to give’ in submission loss
This was a massive fight for Mitchell, the biggest of his career in his words, but the veteran has experienced the downs of losses before. “Thug Nasty” released a statement following the loss below:
“I wanna thank everybody for their support and let y’all know I’m doing just fine,” Mitchell said in a video posted to Instagram.
“Thank God he protected me.”
Silva had said pre-fight that he was going to deal brain damage to Mitchell and that he was going to retire him.
Mitchell didn’t mention sustaining any significant injuries, counting his blessings after the loss.
“I didn’t lose my teeth. I don’t got no broken bones. So I feel good about that, and I fought as hard as I possibly could. I couldn’t have fought any harder.”
Mitchell went out for the second time in his career, his first against Josh Emmett in which he experienced convulsions after getting knocked out.
Not nearly as bad as that, Mitchell reflects on the loss and revealed his biggest regret.
“I could have fought smarter,” Mitchell said.
“I’m gonna go make some adjustments, but, I mean, he put me to sleep,” Mitchell relived.
“So there’s I had nothing left to give.
“I’m happy about that knowing that I tried my best, but I gotta get better. So that’s just the lesson learned here is I gotta get better.”
Bryce Mitchell: ‘God’s chosen me to win this fight’ …
Overwhelmed by massive fan support during fight week, Mitchell says he’s never felt this type of love before.
Mitchell maintained he’s healthy after the fight, so confident that this fight was his to win after a dramatic ‘Good vs. Evil’ type buildup with Silva.
“I really thought that I was gonna win the fight. I 100% believed it because I’ve just never had a fight that big before, and I was like, wow. This fight is out of nowhere, just got this much hype.
“God’s chosen me to win this fight, but that wasn’t the case.”
Bryce Mitchell kept a stoic mindset following his latest win over Kron Gracie at UFC 310, not celebrating the highs of the moment too much, knowing the lows of losses can come at any time.
The UFC Featherweight seems to be in good spirits following the loss in Miami.