Bryce Mitchell reimagined Islam Makhachev’s infamous ‘2-3 years in Dagestan’ catchphrase after returning to the win column last year.
The controversial Arkansas native moved down to bantamweight after a brutal beating at the hands of Jean Silva earlier this year. And he marked his debut at the weight with a grinding decision win over Said Nurmagomedov in the featured prelim at UFC Abu Dhabi.
Despite his surname and where he is from, the Russian is not a member of the famed Nurmagomedov family. But he is Dagestani, which meant that Mitchell’s mocking Instagram video still works for its required purpose.
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Bryce Mitchell mocks Islam Makhachev’s famous ‘2-3 years’ catchphrase
Bryce Mitchell took a lot of abuse after his defeat to Jean Silva, but brushed himself off and got back into action within a matter of months. He was given a tough run by Said Nurmagomedov, but managed to return to the win column with a decision win.
In his first post to Instagram after his victory, Mitchell shared a video to his story in which he re-worded Islam Makhachev’s most notorious catchphrase. The pound-for-pound great famously told Daniel Cormier to send his son to Russia on his own, saying “Send him 2-3 years Dagestan and forget.”
Mitchell turned this line around, having just defeated a Dagestani fighter in what was a massively grappling-heavy fight. He giggled to the camera, saying: “Send him to Arkansas, 2-3 years and forget about it.”
Bryce Mitchell struggled to UFC Abu Dhabi victory before reading Bible verse
In actuality, Mitchell admitted that his fight with Nurmagomedov was the ‘toughest of his career’ during a post-fight interview, and it’s hard to dispute the fact. He has been brutally beaten down and even knocked out before, but in terms of grinding over three rounds he had to dig deep to get the win.
Nurmagomedov showed glimpses of brilliance throughout the 15 minutes, including landing a massive knee that floored his rival during the fight. But ultimately, Mitchell’s top tier grappling was enough to turn the fight in his favor.
“That was honestly my hardest fight ever, bro,” Mitchell told Michael Bisping after the fight. “I’ve never turned down a fight, I always show up happy to fight.” He then repeated the Bible verse Ephesians 6:12 to a largely Muslim crowd in Abu Dhabi.