Bryce Mitchell was in positive spirits in the aftermath of the most devastating loss of his career at UFC 296.
Mitchell (16-2 MMA, 7-2 UFC) was on the receiving end of a Knockout of the Year contender from Josh Emmett (19-4 MMA, 10-4 UFC) on Saturday at T-Mobile Arena. He walked into a massive punch less than two minutes into the first round, and immediately went out cold.
The featherweight then began convulsing on the canvas in a frightening scene. He eventually regained consciousness and returned to his feet and left the cage, and Mitchell was immediately transported to hospital.
Upon his release, Mitchell offered an update on social media and reflected on the outcome and the brutal nature of his knockout (via Instagram):
I want to let everybody know that I’m OK. I want to thank you all so much for watching and I’ve just been so blessed this weekend. I cannot complain about anything and really where I messed up is a poor strategy.
So my strategy was stick to the jab, make my reads, work my feet, kind of sit on the outside, but that put me to where I’m not putting that forward pressure that I really like to put and it also made me look timid. That’s not how I fight. I fight very aggressive and so I encourage anybody who’s got a fight in their life—not just a fistfight, I’m talking about any type of fight, be aggressive and attack it. Because at least if you go down and you lose that battle, you’re going to know you fought and you went head on towards it. So just a bad strategy by me tonight. Gosh, Josh hits hard and he’s so low to the ground when he hits that overhand right, it’s hard to hit him with anything. What can I say? I could have done better, but I obviously didn’t.
I’m so lucky to live the life that I live. I have a wife because of this sport. Me and my wife would have never met if it wasn’t for this sport. I have a kid coming because of this sport. I have a house because of this sport. I have a farm because of this sport. I wouldn’t trade it for nothing and there’s nothing that’s going to get me down. I refuse to let negativity control me and I just wanted to tell you all that I love you.
It could have been a lot worse. When I was in that hospital, I was getting rolled by people with no legs, no arms, faces all messed up, face turned sideways like the dude got in a car wreck, so I cannot complain about anything. I’m so happy to be here and I’m healthy and I love you all and I thank you.
With the result, Mitchell is now 1-2 in his past three fights after starting his career on a 15-bout winning streak. He’s been stopped in both of those losses.
For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC 296.
