Perhaps the third time will be the charm for Movsar Evloev and Bryce Mitchell.
Evloev and Mitchell were booked to fight on two occasions, but both fell through with each fighter withdrawing once. Their most recent booking at UFC 288 was scrapped when Mitchell was forced out due to a back injury and replaced by Diego Lopes on five days’ notice. Evloev remained unbeaten by defeating Lopes, but the Mexican fighter proved to be a more than worthy adversary.
Despite two bookings with Mitchell (15-1 MMA, 6-1 UFC) falling through, Evloev (17-0 MMA, 7-0 UFC) is still interested in making the fight happen. He issued “Thug Nasty” a challenge on Twitter.
So when are you gonna be ready to go @ThugnastyMMA ? I heard you said it won’t take long, otherwise just publicly admit you want nothing to do with me
— Movsar Evloev (@MovsarUFC) May 28, 2023
“So when are you gonna be ready to go @ThugnastyMMA? I heard you said it won’t take long, otherwise just publicly admit you want nothing to do with me.”
Mitchell responded with a video on Instagram, suggesting they throw down on the UFC Fight Night on Aug. 5 card in Nashville.
“Hey Movsar, I hear you still want to fight me,” Mitchell said. “That’s good because I’m looking for somebody to fight. How about Aug. 5 in Nashville? Until then, I’ve got bigger fish to fry than you buddy.”
Mitchell hasn’t competed since a lopsided submission loss to Ilia Topuria this past December at UFC 282, marking his first-career loss. Prior to that, Mitchell was 6-0 in the octagon – including a dominant win over Edson Barboza.