Bryce Mitchell is very excited about his Bantamweight future.
“Thug Nasty” rose into the Top 10 as a Featherweight despite facing a significant size and strength disadvantage against many of the top contenders. Eventually, those issues came to roost, however, as some of the most powerful 145-pounders in the game like Jean Silva, Josh Emmett, and Ilia Topuria sent Mitchell running from the Featherweight ranks.
Mitchell has now lost three of his last five, and a drop to Bantamweight is the perfect career rejuvenation. He’s scheduled for his 135-pound debut this weekend (Sat., July 18, 2025) at UFC 318 opposite Said Nurmagomedov, a powerful kickboxer with a sneaky guillotine choke. It’s a great match up to introduce Mitchell to the upper end of Bantamweight competition, but Mitchell already has his eyes on champion Merab Dvalishvili.
According to “Thug Nasty,” the current top contenders like Cory Sandhagen don’t have a chance and are a waste of time. In fact, only Mitchell has a possible solution for “The Machine.”
“I think [the division] needs to be spiced up a little bit,” Mitchell told MMA Junkie. “It just needs somebody like me in there to shake things up, and I can almost promise you I’m going to shake things up … They need something exciting right now because let’s be honest: Nobody’s going to beat Merab. Who’s going to beat Merab? You’re going to have to call somebody that can beat him because right now literally nobody can beat Merab. So they’re going to realize that they need a guy like me. Here I am. Call me!”
He continued, “Cory’s going to lose, and that’s what’s going to happen. And you can watch the fight just to watch Cory get beat, but he’s not going to win. Nobody’s going to beat Merab unless they call somebody who knows how to. I love Merab, Merab’s actually a great friend of mine, and I can promise you he’s going to beat Cory. It’s boring! Nobody wants to watch him win and not fight. Everybody wants to see a fight, and I’m telling you, I’m bringing a fight to this division.
“It’s going to shake things up. It’s actually going to get people interested in this division again because once again, nobody wants to watch Merab win easily. … I’ve got the only resume that can even possibly compete with him. All these other fights, I mean I guess it’ll be a little bit entertaining because you get to see how Merab wins, but it’s not going to be a fight. Cory Sandhagen’s going to be fighting for air.”
Does Mitchell have what it takes to compete with Dvalishvili? The best argument I can come up with is that Dvalishvili’s most recent loss came via submission, and Mitchell is a very slick grappler. Even so, it’s hard to imagine Mitchell being able to match Dvalishvili’s pure physicality or general wrestling ability.
With a win Saturday night, Mitchell can start to make his case. As it stands, however, he’s a long way off.
This story originally appeared on MMA Mania
