Bryce Mitchell still is in need of an opponent for his first UFC main event, and it sounds like he’d be just fine with one candidate.
Ilia Topuria (12-0 MMA, 4-0 UFC) lost his next opponent, too, and nearly two weeks ago, he predicted a matchup between him and Mitchell (15-0 MMA, 6-0 UFC).
Saturday, Mitchell responded with a video posted to his Twitter account.
“I see I’m getting called out by Ilia Topuria now to fight,” Mitchell said. “He wants to go on Twitter and post a picture of his abs, his little perfect 8-pack or whatever. Hey, buddy – you see (my stomach)? You see that, buddy? I’ve been eating peanut butter cookies for three weeks now and I’ll still get off the couch and whoop your ass, buddy. I don’t give a damn about them abs. Let’s go, buddy. I’m tired of you putting my name in your mouth. (You) shouldn’t have done it.
U wanted it pic.twitter.com/p0cGVvTwRB
— Bryce Mitchell (@ThugnastyMMA) October 16, 2022
Mitchell was supposed to headline UFC Fight Night 214 against Movsar Evloev, but Evloev pulled out of the fight. The unbeaten Mitchell, from Arkansas, has three straight decision wins over Charles Rosa, Andre Fili and Edson Barboza, the latter of which came in March after a layoff of about 16 months.
Topuria was set to fight Barboza until the Brazilian was forced out with an injury in late September. Not long after that, was when Topuria learned Mitchell was going to need an opponent, too, and started his callout. He’s coming off a second-round knockout of Jai Herbert in March, which was his third straight finish in the UFC.
UFC Fight Night 214 takes place Nov. 5 at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas. The card streams on ESPN+.
The latest UFC Fight Night 214 lineup includes:
- Bryce Mitchell vs. TBA
- Neil Magny vs. Daniel Rodriguez
- Darrick Minner vs. Shayilan Nuerdanbieke
- Amanda Lemos vs. Marina Rodriguez
- Mario Bautista vs. Benito Lopez
- Nate Maness vs. Tagir Ulanbekov
- Ramona Pascual vs. Tamires Vidal
- Jinh Yu Frey vs. Polyana Viana
- Carlos Candelario vs. Jake Hadley
- Miranda Maverick vs. Shanna Young
- Josh Parisian vs. Chase Sherman
- Jailton Almeida vs. Maxim Grishin
