Bryce Mitchell is a UFC featherweight ranked in the top 10 of the division. He is a good wrestler and became famous for his rare submissions, which forced his opponents to give up. Outside of the Octagon, Mitchell is a true redneck who lives on a farm and believes in conspiracy theories.
Why did Mitchell bring the Bible into the octagon?
Mitchell was undefeated in the UFC until recently, but lost to hot prospect Iliya Topuria. In a fight with veteran Dan Ige, Mitchell successfully overturned his defeat by winning a unanimous decision.
But fans remember Mitchell not for his victory (it was not the most confident), but for his extravagant behavior: before the fight, he brought a Bible into the octagon and shouted the word “freedom.”
After the victory, he brought the Bible back into the cage, knelt with Ige and prayed in honor of the victims of the Hawaii wildfires. However, Mitchell said that the fires were artificially caused by people who want to take the land from the natives.
Those who know Mitchell weren’t too surprised by this behavior. In an interview before the tournament, he shouted at former UFC champion and now TV pundit Michael Bisping. All because of the theory of human evolution: Mitchell is sure that man did not descend from a monkey, Bisping, as it turned out, is the opposite.
Why is Mitchell acting this way?
Mitchell is very religious: he writes hip-hop for the glory of God, sees conspiracy theories everywhere and is sure that he communicated with demons possessed. One day they broke into his house, and the fighter, according to him, was able to drive away the madmen only with prayer.
Mitchell is confident that the coronavirus does not exist and the earth is flat. He lives on a farm, hunts for his own food, and kills deer with his bare hands. Outside the octagon, he often wears work boots and overalls, supports Trump and opposes any sexual minorities.
Mitchell’s appearance in the octagon with a Bible caused a furor on social networks. Many people love the fighter for his cartoonish conservatism, so they quickly made memes with footage from the broadcast.
Someone suggested making Mitchell’s photo the cover of the new UFC 5 video game, which comes out in October. Other fans were more reserved: “One of the weirdest things I’ve seen in the modern UFC era!”
With the win, Mitchell’s UFC record improved to 7–1 and he remained in the top 10. At the same time, the American does not admit Topuria’s defeat: he assures that he was very sick and made a mistake by accepting the fight.
However, the fight with Topuria was so one-sided that it is unlikely that the UFC will arrange a rematch in the near future. After all, Ilia will fight for the title against Alex Volkanovski, while Mitchell is still fighting to remain in the top 10.