’Thug Nasty’ wasn’t feeling too good heading into his fight with Ilia Topuria.
Bryce Mitchell fought two opponents at UFC 282 on Saturday.
The first was Ilia Topuria, who dominated Mitchell from start to finish in their much-anticipated fight that set the tone for the pay-per-view. On the feet, ‘El Matador’ connected with heavy punches that blooded ‘Thug Nasty’. On the ground, he was in complete control and secured the arm-triangle choke that forced Mitchell to tap, a first in his UFC career.
The second was the flu, which Mitchell recently revealed he fought with before his loss to Topuria.
Thank y’all for the luv! pic.twitter.com/SCIJZSOK2I
— Bryce Mitchell (@ThugnastyMMA) December 12, 2022
“I definitely got to let you know that really wasn’t me out there,” said Mitchell in a brief video on Twitter. “I had the flu the week before, and I thought I’d just tough it out. I didn’t feel good at all in there. That wasn’t myself. I trained a lot harder and could’ve performed a lot better, but I went in there with stuff hurting, not up to 100 percent. Like I said, I had the flu.
“I wish I wouldn’t even took the fight, but I didn’t know it would mess me up that bad,” continued Mitchell. “I thought I would be able to hang in there for all three rounds, because that’s what I trained for. I trained for my cardio to be there the whole time. It wasn’t even there one bit of the time. I’ll come back stronger. I just hate going out on that one like that. But I will be better.”
Mitchell was undefeated in the UFC, winning all six of his appearances since joining the roster over four years ago. The former Ultimate Fighter competitor entered the Topuria fight fresh off a unanimous decision win over Edson Barboza at UFC 272 this past March.
As for Topuria, he improved to 13-0 as a professional.