UFC featherweight contender Bryce Mitchell is looking to surge towards title contention and hopes to do so at the expense of “The Korean Zombie” Chan Sung Jung.
Mitchell returned from a year-and-a-half layoff at UFC 272 earlier this year, squaring off against promotional mainstay Edson Barboza. Having defeated the likes of Charles Rosa and Andre Fili in his prior outings, the Brazilian represented a stiff step-up in competition for “Thug Nasty.”
To say that Mitchell passed the test with flying colors would be an understatement. After knocking the elite striker down on the feet early, Mitchell implemented his dominant wrestling, controlling and beating the veteran en route to a unanimous decision verdict.
There's no victory without respect
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— UFC (@ufc) March 6, 2022
Now at 15-0 and having added an established UFC name to his blossoming résumé, Mitchell is looking to take the next step towards the top.
With a #9 ranking comes a small pool of higher-placed featherweights for Mitchell and his team to choose from, with many also already booked to fight one another. But one name in particular has stood out to the 27-year-old.
During an interview with former UFC heavyweight Brendan Schaub, the Arkansas native proposed a “twister versus twister” matchup against two-time title challenger “The Korean Zombie.” Chan Sung Jung was the last man to challenge champion Alexander Volkanovski, falling via TKO in the fourth round at UFC 273.
“‘The Korean Zombie’ is the highest-ranked guy that I could possibly fight. And the reason that I believe he is (the best), is that he’s a two-time title contender,” said Mitchell. “He went and fought for the belt two times. There’s other guys that are up there. Ortega’s booked, Holloway’s booked, but there’s other guys that might be up there, but they didn’t fight for the belt twice.
“If you go in there and you beat zombie better than both champs (did), Aldo and Volk, I think it took Volk maybe two (four) rounds, so If I go in there and beat ‘Korean Zombie’ in the first round, that gives me grounds to fight Volk immediately,” added Mitchell. “I want to fight the zombie because he’s the best guy available… Hopefully he’s ready to go. It’s twister versus twister. If one of us twisters the other, that settles who’s got the better twister.”
Only two fights in UFC history have ended via twister submission. While Chan Sung Jung locked in the first against Leonard Garcia in 2011, Mitchell replicated the feat in his third Octagon appearance versus Matt Sayles in 2019.
It’s safe to say that not many people have secured a title shot in a greater fashion than potentially finishing “The Korean Zombie” with the move that he was the first to pull off. We’ll see if Mitchell gets the chance to do just that in the coming months.
Could Bryce Mitchell out-twister the UFC’s first twisterer?
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